Cortona, Italy - October 19, 2014, Sunday

Fog over Valdichiana

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here at Villa Santa Maria.   Fog is resting on the Valdichiana, but will soon burn off making for a beautiful day here in Tuscany.  

Breakfast at the Villa

We met for breakfast at 8:15 to start the day.  Stephan (our driver) picked us up at 9:00 and we were off to Florence for a walking tour of the city.  

David Stands Proudly in the Background

Our guide, Gianna, made sure we visited the hot spots beginning with the Firenze Museum, home of Michael Angelo's most famous sculpture, "David."  

Michael Angelo's "David"

We wanted to visit David early before the crowds arrived, but there is never a time when David isn't surrounded by gawking women and wishful men.  

Admiring "David"

Of course we had to carefully study Michael Angelo's work.  Conclusion ... David puts to rest the myth about men with large hands and feet.  Just sayin.  

After committing to memory all of David's features, we moved on to Ponte Vecchio, ("Old Bridge"), 


a Medieval stone enclosed bridge
over the Arno River in Florence noted for having shops built along it.  

Stevie, Mary Ann, Julie, Jean-Marie and Jan visit the Ponte Vecchio.

Initially occupied by butchers, the present tenants are jewelers thus earning the nickname "Bridge of Gold." 

We didn't buy any gold, but we found an incredible new gadget ... the "selfie stick."  The stick extends to 36 inches and has a clamp on the end to hold an iPhone, which can be held out for the perfect selfie.  I bought one for each of the girls.  We had so much fun with it, we decided to buy another 32 of them for all of our friends, grandkids and family.

Negotiating and counting the "Selfie Sticks"

We negotiated with a Nigerian guy who walked away several times, until finally agreeing to sell to us for $5.00 each.  Asking price was $20.00.  Poor guy's kids will probably go hungry tonight.  But we got our "Selfie Sticks", which, by the way is NOT the proper name for the gadget, rather our name for it.   

On the way to lunch, Stevie found another "can't live without" item.  She had chef's hats embroidered for each of us to be worn later in the week for our cooking class.  

Monogrammed Chef Hats for Cooking Class

You'll definitely want to check in later in the week for photos of us sporting our personalized hats.

Taking Selfies at the lunch table.

Dozens of "selfies" later, we found a comfortable spot for lunch at L'Incontro Ristorante on the sidewalk of the Savoy Hotel.  Great food, great location for people watching and great break.  

In the Van on the way to Outlet Shopping

Cheap Seats in the Back of the Van

After a bit more shopping, we headed for the Outlet Mall which was on the way back to the house.  Filled with most of the world's top designers, such as Gucci, Prada, Pucci, Fendi, Monclear and many more, we scattered for a while to allow everyone time to shop for their treasures.  I guess we must have been very serious about the shopping because we didn't take a single photo at the Outlet Mall.  

Cocktails at Villa Santa Maria

After a day of sightseeing and shopping, we decided to head home for another gourmet dinner of Parmesan Soufflé, bacon wrapped figs and bacon wrapped cheese followed by pork infused pasta, salad and the lightest chocolate cake EVER with homemade orange marmalade.  The marmalade would be incredible with everything from meats to deserts.  Sliced oranges, a pinch of sugar and rum ... yum, yum.

Jan's Coffee Table Book Amazes Mary Ann.  

So now, we're sitting around the dinner table studying Jan's book about David and comparing stories from today and days gone by.  I haven't laughed so much in ages.  Laughter is wonderfully therapeutic and when one can laugh with such special friends ... well, that's priceless.  How lucky am I???  Thank you girls!

Dinner at Villa Santa Maria.

Cortona, Italy - October 18, 2014, Saturday

I'm b-a-c-k!!

Time for a new adventure with Julie, Stevie Gillman, Mary Ann Dalton, Jan Crouch and Jean Marie Hamel.  We're off to Cortona, Italy.  This summer at a fund raiser for Challenge Aspen, my friend Stevie, bought a week at a Tuscan Villa in Cortona, Italy and she invited 4 friends to come along.  I was one of the lucky four.

Friday morning, I met Stevie in Houston and we had an incredible lunch at her restaurant called "Reef."  

Lunch at Reef in Houston

We ordered the left side of the menu as suggested by Chef Brian Caswell, who was nominated Chef of the Year by Food and Wine Magazine.  Brian did NOT disappoint.  We had his famous sliders with Chipotle Mayonnaise, then crab cakes with pickled veggies followed by shrimp and charred rice.  I felt particularly connected to the charred rice as I usually char everything I attempt to cook.  The best part was the two bottles of Cakebread Chardonnay and the spiked milkshakes and chocolate lava cake that really flowed lava.  If you followed my New Zealand/Australia blog, you know the importance of the lava flow.  Oops.  Totally forgot to mention his home made focacia bread and japeleno jelly.  Next time you're in Houston, Reef is a must do.  After lunch, we met Mary Ann at the airport and the fun began.

Champagne and Good Friends

Ready for a good night's sleep on Air France.

We are now comfortably situated in the airplane on the way to Florence.  More champagne, please.  More updates later.

Lunch at Bar 500

We arrived in Florence and were whisked away by our driver to 

the Tuscan villa in Cortona, Italy.  

While we waited for Jean Marie and Jan to arrive, we walked the streets of Cortona and had a quick bite to eat at Bar 500.  



 
Cortona is a charming walled city with medieval architecture and steep narrow streets situated on a hillside at an elevation of around 2000 feet with embracing views of all of Valdichiana.  Adorable restaurants and shops line the narrow streets. 
 

Villa Santa Maria, Cortona, Italy

We are staying at Villa Santa Maria, which is a short walk from the city.  And when they say Cortona is steep and narrow ... they mean it.  The walk to town is a steep uphill walk the entire way.  The Tuscan villa is nestled amongst olive trees with stunning views over Valdichiana.  

Jan and only ONE bag???  Great Job, Jan.

Jan and Jean Marie arrived around 7:00 tonight.  Everyone was shocked that Jan brought only one suitcase.  Good job Jan!!  

Jean Marie and her knee boo boo.

Jean Marie shows off the first injury of the trip.  While trying to loosen up before the long flight to Italy, she hurt her knee doing yoga.  I hope we don't have further mishaps to report this week.  If we do, you can rest assured there will probably be alcohol involved and a darn sight

 more exciting excuse than YOGA.  No offense, Jean Marie, but I could think of a dozen better stories than yoga.  Why Jan mentioned several at dinner!!  You know what I'm talking about!  However, kudos for the really cool bandage!!

Mary Ann Offers Advice to the Chef

Villa Santa Maria comes equipped with a chef to prepare breakfast and dinner.  Tonight's meal was spectacular and very typically Italian with four delicious courses beginning with three types of Bruschetta, a pasta dish made with fresh tomatoes, roasted pork and cabbage salad followed by Tiramisu.  Can't wait for the next feeding tomorrow morning.  

Dinner at the Villa and Stevie's gifts for the girls.  

Stevie brought special clothing for the girls for an event scheduled later this week.  I won't spoil the surprise, but you'll definitely want to tune in later in the week for this one!!

Sunset from the pool at Villa Santa Maria

The sunset tonight was beautiful.  Can't wait for our adventure tomorrow in Florence.  

Hopefully, more later.  I need to find an adapter for the power cord for my MacBook Air.  The three prong cord will not plug in to the 2 prong adapter.  If I find one, I'll continue to post daily updates.  Otherwise, I'll catch up when I return to the States.  Keep your fingers crossed folks!!!

Down Under - Day Twenty Six, Sunday, March 2, 2014, Sydney, Australia

Qantas Lounge at Sydney Airport

I left off last night in the Qantas Lounge at the Sydney airport.  We boarded our double decker airbus at 9:00 on Sunday evening, March 2nd.  Remember the time here folks.  More on this later.

Suite 4A on Qantas Flight 11 from Sydney to Los Angeles.

I've been on a few airplanes in my lifetime, but this one was unbelievably impressive.  With only 14 "suites" in our section and 4 flight attendants to cater to our every need, it was quite comfortable.  The suite was the size of two large first class seats but configured in a bedroom setting.  Albeit small, it was equipped with everything one may need for a leisurely, homelike setting.  There were two remote controls, one for the 19" t.v. and one for the lounge chair.  The chair had a massage feature, so I enjoyed a nice massage while watching the live take off from the tail mounted camera.   

Steve and Diane from Boca Grande, FL chat with Stevie.

Steve and Diane from our cruise were on the same flight, so we enjoyed telling tales of our vacation over cocktails before take off.   They were equally impressed with the airplane's set up, but having flown over on the same Qantas flight, they were much less in awe.    

My own Qantas P.J.'s.

I guess you can take the girl out of Arkansas, but you can't take the Arkansas out of the girl, because I was having a ball playing with all the gadgets, flipping my recliner around in different positions and opening drawers and discovering all kinds of goodies ... like my very own Qantas P.J.'s ... in the right size!  How did they know??  I was kind of like a kid in a candy store, in wonderment of all the cool features in my room.  I wasn't raise like this folks!

Shortly after take off the flight attendant brought me a caviar Bellini and a blue cheese tart.  Move over, Bertha, let the force feeding continue.   I'm having the tasting menu for dinner tonight while listening to music in glorious surround sound from my own personal playlist.  I pushed the button to lower my window shades ... yes, plural ... THREE of them in each suite.  

After dinner, the flight attendant came around to make my bed.  The recliner went flat, she covered it with a fleece mattress and sheets with a down comforter and two full size pillows.  Sweet!  I really didn't want to go to sleep because I was afraid I'd miss something, but shortly after my evening tea, I dozed off for several hours.

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs.  Is there a better way to wake up than the smell of bacon??  We had a couple more hours before landing in LA, so I started playing with gadgets again.  I went to the toilet and when I came back, my bed was gone and the recliner was awaiting.  I must say, the service on this airplane is phenomenal.  I've never seen so many perky, friendly flight attendants.  They brought my tea, I did a few yoga stretches and floor exercises - yes - the room is that large, and then I started scanning the tv channels.  

We landed in Los Angeles and I must admit, I wasn't quite ready to disembark.  They still had plenty of champagne and food on board that I hadn't gotten around to enjoying.  All in all the Qantas flight was one of the best flying experiences to date.  It was a stretch to fine a negative ... ok ... no wifi.  But I was so busy playing with all the other toys, I didn't really miss it.  

Stevie and I breezed through customs and immigration.  If you don't have a "GOES" pass and you travel internationally, you really should consider getting one.  With a quick electronic scan of my passport and fingerprint confirmation, we were through immigration within about 60 seconds.  All my bags arrived and we were in and out of customs in a matter of minutes.  Nirvana!  Back on US soil.  And here's the thing.  Remember when I told you we left on Sunday evening at 9:00?  Well we arrived back in LA on Sunday AFTERNOON at 4:30 p.m.  Almost 5 hours BEFORE we left.  I finally found that day I lost when we went to New Zealand.  

Stevie and I said our goodbyes after clearing customs.  She had to catch her flight to Houston.  We had such an amazing time.  The best thing is, we spent a month together and we're still good friends.  We had such a great time sharing this experience.  Thanks, Stevie for being such an amazing friend.  I miss you already.

It sure feels good to be home.  I'll be here in Los Angeles for a few more days spending time with Jeff and friends before returning to Aspen.  I'm so glad that you checked in with me on my journey.  I can't wait to catch up with each of you to hear what's happening in your world.  We're all on this adventure together ... the adventure of life.  We can spend it any way we want, but the truth is, we only have so many trips around the sun to enjoy, so let's spend them wisely.  I can't think of a better than to embrace each day than with the awe and excitement of a child, exploring new places, people and ideas but mostly sharing those things with the ones we love.  

This is Julie and Stevie's Down Under Adventure signing out.

Love to all!

Down Under - Day Twenty Five, Sunday, March 2, 2014 - Sydney, Australia

STILL Soggy Sydney

Still Overcast and Rainy in Sydney.

It's still overcast and very cloudy this morning.  Stevie and I are trying to plan the day ... since we're here for another day because of a flight delay ...  until tonight.  Bonus day!  Yay!  And as with every day of this trip ... "I got up" ... then went to breakfast.

Harbor Bridge from walk way.

After breakfast, I went for a walk.  It was cloudy and a little misty, but I did not let that dissuade me and I'm so glad I went.  I walked across the Harbor Bridge, which was such a fun and scenic walk.  

Trouble, with a capitol "T" looking for a place to happen!! That's me!

I met a group of local college boys who were dressed so nicely.  They were on a scavenger hunt as part of a fraternity assignment, gathering clues from across the city.  We walked together for a while and I had to have my photo taken with them to send to Jeff at USC.  The outfits were so perfectly matched and charming and the knee socks added that little something extra, don't ya think?  Really fun kids.  

Queen Elizabeth is in port.

As I continued my walk down to the Wharf, I met an Aborigines gent, or as they refer to them in Australia, an "indigenous" gent, playing a digeridoo.   Turns out, he's been to the US and while there, got married 6 times.  

Aborigines Gent looking for wife number seven.  NOT ME!!

Said he loves America because the wives are so plentiful.  We talked for a while, I dropped a bill in his bowl and got the heck out of there.  Didn't want to be mistaken for wife number 7.  Ouch!!  But he did play interesting music on his digeridoo.  

Sydney Opera House

Next, I wandered down to the Sydney Opera House.  What an amazing structure.  I'm still reeling from my very FIRST Opera right here last night.  There were people from around the world circling the place.  I took dozens of photos of people and photo bombed a few others.  It's so much fun meeting people from around the world.  "Would you like a photo of you together?" seems to be understood in any language.  

Gotta love it.  She's still carrying a handbag on her walkabout.

I met some German kids who are backing packing across Australia for 6 months.  Notice the girl's pack BUT she's still carrying a handbag.   My kind of gal.

I continued on past the Opera House into the Botanical Gardens.  These folks are big on Botanical Gardens.  Seems to be one in every port.  The one in Sydney is huge and beautiful.  I only walked a short way into it before the rain started coming down pretty hard. So I pulled up my hood and ran back to the hotel.   

I caught my first glimpse of sunshine in Sydney when I arrived back in my room.  It didn't last long, but long enough for me to catch this photo.  See the sun shine on the Opera House???  Shortly after this photo, the rain set in again.

First glimpse of sunshine in Sydney.  

It's time to get packed up again and roll these suit cases down to the car to  to the airport.  Hopefully there will be no further delays.    And hopefully there is a very strong bellman coming up.

Well, the Bellman got the bags loaded in the car and we have been "collected" for our drive to the airport.  When we arrived at the terminal, a Qantas representative met us curbside to gather our luggage and Stevie and I.  She walked us through the check in process.  Actually, she parked us in the check in "lounge" and she took it from there.  It wasn't long before she came back to let me know that my bags were over the limit of 32 Kilos.  The luggage belt does not move if bags are over weight.  I was prepared to buy a bag to transfer 5K out of each bag to get the belt moving again, but the agent said, "No problem, Mrs. Wooley.  I have a couple of Samsonite bags that will work nicely.  Just transfer 5K out of each of your bags into the Samsonite bag and you'll be good to go."  Can you believe that???  I love Qantas!  Hope they don't decide to go on strike while we're over the Pacific Ocean.  That would definitely change the way I feel about them.

So now, Stevie and I are in the lounge having a nice "free" dinner and lots of free wine before we board our airplane at 9:00 and head for the good ole USA.   Can't wait to see you all!!  My last blog entry will come to you live from Los Angeles!!

Early in the Cruise.

By the way, I thought I should warn you.  This is what I looked like when we arrived.

This is what I look like now.  Just kidding, but this is what I feel like after a month of eating and drinking my way across the southern hemisphere.   I've turned Maui into a 4 syllable word.  Gotta hit the gym when I get back to make sure I don't need to shop where Bertha does.  Sorry Bertha.

Just had to end this blog with a laugh!  Look forward to seeing you all when I get back to the states.  Love for now.  Over and out.

Down Under - Day Twenty Two - Thursday, February 27, 2014 - Sydney, Australia

I seem to be missing my blog page for the 27th.  I remember writing it and posting the photos, but I can't seem to find it anywhere, so here goes again as best I can remember the events of the day.

Sydney Skyline

We arrived in Sydney early this morning.  Getting up early was so worth it.  We sailed into Darling Harbor at 5:30 a.m. to the twinkling lights of the Sydney Skyline.  

Sydney Opera House

Greeted by the Sydney Opera House and continuing on beneath the Harbor Bridge, we finally docked just after sunrise.  

Harbor Bridge

We said our goodbyes to our new friends and crew members as we were disembarking the ship.  On the way out, I finally found the ship's steering wheel.  It was NOT in the bridge when we did our bridge tour.  

Found the Steering Wheel!

No wonder the captain was having difficulty dodging the waves in the Tasman Sea.  

Stevie and I checked in to the Shangri-La Hotel and then hit the streets of Sydney.  In a city of over four and a half million people, we managed to run into several people that we'd met on the ship.  It was fun seeing Annabele and Heather, ship's entertainers,  at Lulu Lemon's.  

Kangaroos and Koalas  

I ran into my first kangaroo and koala today.  This is as close to the real thing as I'll come this trip.

We had dinner at a renovated bank building called RockPool Bar and Grill.  

Chandelier made of 2,682 Wine Glasses

The chandelier in the bar is made of 2,682 Riedel Riesling glasses.  

It was a Martini Kind of Night at RockPool Bar and Grill

Very pretty.  We had a great meal and returned to the hotel to turn in.  We'd scheduled an early morning start time the next day to visit the Sunshine Coast.  More news later.  

Down Under - Day Twenty Four, Saturday, March 1, 2014 - Sydney, Australia

Soggy Saturday in Sydney

Harbor Bridge over Darling Harbor.

Yup!  Still raining in Sydney.  Stevie and I were scheduled to do the Harbor Bridge walk today.  We bought our non-refundable tickets when we arrived Thursday.  The climb goes rain or shine, unless it's lightening.  Well, let me just say, the best $250.00 bucks I've spent in a long time was NOT doing the bridge walk in the pouring rain.  

Lunch at Polo instead of climbing the Harbor Bridge in the pouring rain.  Good call!

We decided to have a nice lunch instead at Polo in The Rock Center.  The Rock is an artsy area with great shops and restaurants in downtown Sydney. 

 

Shopping at the Farmer's Market in Sydney.  

Very trendy and Bohemian.  Loved it.  There was a big Farmer's Market going on.  We found a few treasures to bring home. 

Going to the Opera at the Sydney Opera House.  Priceless!

Sydney's Opera House ranks in the top 10 Opera Houses in the world.  It's prominently located on Darling Harbor and welcomes ships to Sydney.  So it's only natural to want to visit the Opera House while in Sydney. 

 

Tickets to "The Magic Flute".   Again ... priceless experience!

We took it one step further and actually went to the Opera tonight.  My very first Opera, "The Magic Flute," may be one of the highlights of the entire trip.  Just visiting the iconic Opera House was amazing, but to see an Opera there ... well, that was really special.   I've decided that I should make it a "bucket list" goal to see Opera in the top 10 Opera Houses in the world.  

Sydney Opera House - Ranked #6 in the world.

I'll be visiting Jacqueline in April and will be checking to see what's playing at the Lincoln Center, which ranks number 10 on the list.  So that leaves another 8.  Anyone interested???

Tomorrow is our last day in Sydney and the Southern Hemisphere.  Our 3:30 p.m. departing flight was cancelled because the Qantas Jet coming in from LA clipped the wing of another airplane while on the tarmac at LAX.  

Mardi Gras Guys.

So now, we leave tomorrow evening at 9:30.  It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, but we'll find some trouble somewhere.  We managed to find trouble today in the form of guys dressed for the Mardi Gras Celebration in Sydney today.  

More news later.

Down Under - Day Twenty Three, Friday, February 28, 2014, Sunshine Coast, Australia

G'day mate.

Coffee at the Beach.  Kylie, Darcy, Stevie and Julie

Stevie and I hopped on a plane to the Sunshine Coast today to visit dear friends from Aspen who moved back to Australia several years ago.  The Sunshine Coast did not disappoint ... the sun was shining brightly, something we haven't seen for the past three days.  We had a fabulous day visiting and catching up with Darcy and Kylie who live in a beautiful area near Noosa. 
 

The beaches are beautiful.   Julie, Kylie, Darcy and Stevie.

We stopped for coffee on the beach.  The blue waters of the Pacific and the white sand beach was seductively appealing.  

The walkways along the beach are stunning.

I could sit on that beach for days and never get enough.  I'm thinking I could definitely come back here!!  I loved the walkways along the beach that stretch for miles around the peninsula.  

While wandering the walkway along the beach, I was introduced to the Australian Brush Turkey.

Brush Turkey

The not particularly attractive birds  are everywhere.  I'm thinking, hey, this must be pretty handy around Thanksgiving, but then I realized Thanksgiving is an American holiday AND apparently, the meat is quite tough. We met a guy on the walkway who told us how to cook one.  He said to put the turkey in a big pot of water with a brick and boil it until the brick was tender.  Sounds tasty, yes?

When I decided to visit New Zealand and Australia, everyone advised me to go to Australia first because I'd be disappointed in Australia AFTER visiting New Zealand.  But I'm not convinced.  I've found Australia to be beautiful, interesting, cosmopolitan, and I find the beaches very alluring.   The two countries are quite different, but I can't say that one is hands down more beautiful.   

Lunch at Bistro C in Noosa.

It was just marvelous spending the day with Darcy, Kylie and later in the afternoon, the children.  What a beautiful family.  When we got together, we picked up where we left off like no time had passed between us.  Thank you for making us feel so welcome and at home.  Be careful guys, I may take you up on that invitation to return.  How about November???

Flying Fish Restaurant 

Stevie and I returned to Sydney around 6:30 to a great dinner at The Flying Fish.  Situated on the wharf, The Flying Fish is renowned for their skill with seafood and passion for seasonal produce.  Serving only foods that are indigenous to the area, their Asian inspired flavor combinations were sooooo tasty.  Yum.  We've been on force feed for the past 23 days anyway.  Why stop now???

More news later.