As we roll away on the train out of Florence and I look at my pictures of our three days in Tuscany, I can't help but feel full. Full of the beauty and lush green scenic vistas, full of the generous spirit of the locals who hosted us and full of their glorious food and wine! Tuscany has been good to us. We drove many scenic routes from town to town and enjoyed stopping along the way in our Alpha Romeo...a perfect little sports car to show us the countryside. We ...

We are enchanted with Tuscany after a day and a half of exploring small Hill towns and wide open spaces. It is incredible here. Large rolling hills of green and vineyards of plenty, as well as beautiful little ancient stone and brick towns from centuries past. We are staying in San Giminano in an old farmhouse in what they call here an agritourismo. There is a family of winemakers here who own this land but also host us in a beautiful way. Hearty breakfast by da...

Our second day in Rome has been a gigantic one! Full from start to finish, we have spent time in ancient places today and walked where giants of our history once Roamed....get it? Romed! We visited the Vatican City for Sunday Mass which we watched in St. Peter's square. Though we missed entry into the Basilica for the service we could easily watch and hear from the many screens and speakers. The Pope himself was overseeing the service and thousands gathered in t...

We have arrived in Italy and have begun our Roman Holiday. It is just as magical and marvellous as I remember and even more precious being here with the love of my life. We have always wanted to return to Italy together but Chris has told me he dreams of living here some day. I am enamoured by the thought and could see us living somewhere here someday, but for now we will be adventurous and take it all in. Our introduction has been a tasty and savoury start. Let...

We are spending our last two nights of this trip in Ho Chi Min city also known as Saigon. It is a huge city with a bazillion motorbikes and a lot more development than we have seen anywhere in Vietnam. Skyscrapers with bars at the top and every high end chain you can imagine. We hadn't seen a Starbucks or macdonalds once until arriving here so clearly there is more international influence here. The temperature is 32 and unbearably hot and humid, so much so that I...