To Catch Up

So, I know it's been quite some time since I last updated. And now, writing from the Kindle, I can't see where it was that I left off.
To summarize-
Morocco is UNBEARABLY hot in August. If you are wanting to go, go in the winter.  The medinas are really worth a visit. Though they don't vary so much from city to city,getting lost in them is definitely all it's hyped up to be. As you walk by your senses are all bombarded at once:  Vendors have stalls of brightly colored spices piled as high as the people walking by, nxt are the fish carts where the men are displaying their fresh catches from ealier that mornin. You see what looks good and pick out the ones you want and he fixes up right there for you. If you want filets or steaks of fish, it's your perogative. However, the parts you don't want are then swept into the street. The smells that reaches your nose as the heat of the day rises is one of pure rankness. But the next thing you know you are passing the fruit stands with specialities like cactus fruit. It may be prickly on the outside but it is quite refreshing on the inside. Next you hear the clucking of roosters in their cages as the locals shop for the fattest and most juicy looking one. Once you'e made your decision,  they slaughter it right there for you and prepare it. Next door to the chickens are the butchers who sell evreything from steaks to legs with hooves attached to sides of cow so large they dwarf the men standing beside them. A little farther on down the side alley way is the group of young boys playing soccer and the girls squealing on the sidelines.
Overall worth a visit especially with the snake charmers and fresh OJ stands but maybe August wasn't the best time for it.

Lisbon was gorgeous! By the water it allowed for nicer weather. It was exactly as my Mom had always described it to me. The tile roofs, white washed buildings, ornate tiles with intricate patterns everywhere you look-stairs, sides of houses, even in public bathrooms, and, of course, Catholic churches and shrines to saints down practically every street. The abundance of fresh fish and the cheapness of wine made for savory, cheap meals. The Amalfa is by far the best for winding streets and hidden cafes under giant bouganvillea plants and seeing views of the city with an old man playing the acoustic in the background.

Paris. Well, anyone who knows me knows that me and this city are practically joined at the hip. Espresso in little side cafes, strolling up and down the right and left bank of the Seine, wine on the left bank basking in the setting sun over Notre Dame, beouf bourginan and tartiflette and creme brulee, pursuing the little stalls of artists in Montmartre, reliving the Impressionist period at Musee d'Orsay and visiting Monet's waterlilies at Musee de l'Orangerie and of course La Tour Eiffel by day and by night. Ah, c'est la vie en rose. After many a baguette and bottles of wine, we bid  au revoir to my city of lights.

A day of traveling landed us in Florence after the Italians were again having ishes with their train system. It was late but it didn't matter. We were in Italy -land of pasta! So after finding a cheap place to sleep we had our fill of pasta and red wine before catching some zzzs until the next day. Over the next few days we did as most do-we saw the sites. I walked the Ponte Vecchio and watched the jewelery sparkle and dance in the bright rays of te midday sun. I ate the most delicious mascarpone gelato. Hands down the best gelato I've ever had.    We drank wine while sitting on the window sill overlooking the windy street below doing our own rendition of "yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me". We walked the windy streets and looked at all the differents types of doors (see Andy's blog for more information). We went to the Uffizi and saw The Birth of Venus and La Primavera by Botticelli and then the Accademia to see David by Michaelanglo. Wonders of art and definitie mustsees. However, I think my favorite thing about Florence were the little doors all over in almost very building. Little wine doors from the days of the Black Plague. To prevent contamination they had secret ways of still getting your wine. Not even with a threat of almost certain death if contaminated, the Italians made sure they could still get their wine. So the take home message-don't try to separate an Italian from his wine! They will find ways to get it.

Pisa has a leaning tower. It's name is the leaning tower of Pisa.

La Cita Eterna! Roma. The Capital of the World. Home of the Colosseo and the Roman Forum. We did some couchsurfing there for a few nights to save some money. We did three free walking tours and saw much of the city this way. Rome is known for mnay things as well as it's plethra of fountains with ice cold drinking water. It was so hot that these really came in handy. We visited the Spanish steps just like in Roman Holiday. At the base of the steps is my favorite fountain in all of Rome. It's name in Italian meas "little boat" and it is a flooding fisherman's boat and the best fountain in it's simplicity and theme. The Trevi fountain is just as massive as I remember it in taking up the entire piazza. Since thousands of years of living has occurred in this city, no one can make a proper metro system so we did a lot of walking. We visited Il Colosseo and the Forum, St. Peter's Basillica and the Sistine Chapel, several works of art by Carvaggio, Michaelanglo and others all hidden in churches every couple blocks or so. Of course the mouth of truth was pretty wicked and then I beat Andy at a race on the Circo Massimo. I saw a man get ran over by a train. Next, I saw many an obelisk and more fountains in some of the grandest piazzas in the world. Trastevere has a great night life and all along the Tiber ther are shops and restaurants. At night here are bars and live music that can be heard from the banks to the bridges to the piazzas up above. We also found the greatest Italian restaurant on a side street walking back from a place we were trying to go to dinner. They don't speak a lick of English and since the old Italian women were eating there (and according to Andy, that means it's good). Specialities of the region like spaghetti with bacon and pecorino cheese o tonnareli with pepper and pecorino cheese, the most delectable maccaronini ai quattro formaggi or rigatoni al pesto and my favorite Italian dessert of panna cotta ai fruitti di bosco. So delicious that I could have eaten there every night! But it was time to move on...

I'm writing this now after just arriving in Naples. Time for pizza, Pompeii and Sorrento,and delicious Limoncello. So, ciao for now. More to come soon!