After a brief stint in parking purgatory, the kind parking lady came and allowed us to pay our parking fee with a hand-written receipt instead of our “non valido” parking ticket. Our main destination on Sunday was Geneva, Switzerland. We…
![Cinque Terre (5T) Cinque Terre (5T)](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_4575-670x300.jpg)
Cinque Terre (5T)
Pronounced “chinqua terra or terri”, the title given to these five small towns on the western coast of northern Italy literally means “five lands”. These small towns were centered around a mideval tower or castle, built to protect its inhabitants…
![Bad Engineering in Pisa Bad Engineering in Pisa](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_4090-e1479238342528-670x300.jpg)
Bad Engineering in Pisa
Friday morning we left Florence to visit the global monument to bad civil engineering, the leaning tower of Pisa. Under a cloudy and threatening sky we took our goofy photos showing we caused or were trying to save the ill-fated…
![David in Florence David in Florence](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/IMG_3805-e1479234320191-670x300.jpg)
David in Florence
Wednesday morning found us scrambling to the Venice Bus to get to the Santa Lucia train station for our return to Vicenza to retrieve our car and continue with our driving tour of Italy. Grabbing a quick cappacino and croissant…
![Saint “me” Square (St. Mark’s Square) Saint “me” Square (St. Mark’s Square)](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_3507-e1479228942440-670x300.jpg)
Saint “me” Square (St. Mark’s Square)
Okay, I didn’t coin the phrase “St. Me Square”. But, that and “St. Him Square” were terms used frequently during this visit by my traveling companions. I had booked us a tour of St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace…
![Nove and Venice Nove and Venice](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_3584-e1476791641257-670x300.jpg)
Nove and Venice
We headed out Monday morning to Nove to do some shopping for ceramics. The city is covered wth family owned ceramic factories. These factories produce the brands we buy in the states like Lenox and Tiffany. However, you can buy…
![Juliet, Palladio, and the Country House Juliet, Palladio, and the Country House](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_3301-e1476436621203-670x300.jpg)
Juliet, Palladio, and the Country House
Sunday morning started back in a foggy Bellagio on Lake Como. We headed southeast towards Verona where we parked and walked into the old town area. We visited the courtyard featured in the movie Letters to Juliet and snapped a…
![The Last Supper First The Last Supper First](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_2383-e1476786362656-670x300.jpg)
The Last Supper First
We had reservations for a 10:15 am tour of Milan that included a visit to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Milan is about an hour away from Bellagio. So we had to get up pretty early Saturday morning…
![The Drive to Bellagio (not Vegas) The Drive to Bellagio (not Vegas)](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_2284-1-e1476788971574-670x300.jpg)
The Drive to Bellagio (not Vegas)
We picked up Russ Friday afternoon at work just south of their house. We drove straight through to a place in southern Germany (Bad Belingen), just north of the border of Switzerland, near Basel. We ate dinner at a Serway…
![European Coast European Coast](http://markstravellog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_2217-e1475851158315-670x300.jpg)
European Coast
Snapped this shot as we entered European airspace. This is the coast of Spain just before dawn. Russ picked us up at the airport and we were at their house by 9:00 am, 3:00 am eastern time. News-flash: Andrea actually…