May 23, 2013 - Orvieto, Civita, and Sorrento

Ready for a new adventure, Bryan and I woke, checked out, and we're on the road early. The drive to Sorrento is supposed to take around 4-5 hours. We plan to stop at Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio on our way. Civita was founded by Etruscans more than 2500 yrs ago. Today, it's known as "the dying town" due to the roughly 12 permanent residents, though it is experiencing a tourist revival. The town is located atop a plateau of volcanic rock overlooking the Tiber River valley, reachable only by footbridge. Orvieto also sits atop a plateau...

May 23, 2013 - La Foce and Chianciano Terme

Finally an awesome nights sleep! A slightly foggy morning and we were happy to relax in our room enjoying the view a little later than usual. The plan for today is to visit some nearby gardens, la Foce, just outside of Chianciano Terme. This will also allow us time in the afternoon to explore some of the sights in Montepulciano itself before we depart tomorrow for the Amalfi coast. Well la Foce was a bust. We arrived to a pretty empty place. When we walked into reception we heard another couple asking about alternate walking routes. From...

May 22, 2013 - Assisi

Today a foggy morning greeted us when we woke, though by breakfast it was already beginning to lift. We were on the road early for the 1.5 hr drive to Assisi. The drive was a gorgeous with fog hanging over the vineyards and billowing over the hilltop towns. Soon enough the fog was gone and the sun was shining through. We arrived in Assisi by 11 am and quickly found underground parking near the center of town. As we approached we were surprised at how empty the streets were, it felt like we had the town to ourselves. From our pocket tourist...

May 21, 2013 - Cortona and Castiglione del Lago

Bryan and I were up on and on the road pretty early today. Rested and ready to explore more nearby towns, we initially set our sights on Cortona and Assisi, however once we stopped in Cortona our plans changed slightly. We made it to Cortona by 11:30 am and were able to find parking pretty easily. The Piazza Della Republica was a short walk from where we parked. Again, we found a charming little town (maybe they are really all this cute?)! One of the few sights I wanted to see in Cortona was "Bramasole"....sound familiar? Anyone who's seen...

May 20, 2013 - Montepulciano

It was a treat to sleep until 9 am today without our neighbors waking us! Bryan was surprised to find me typing this journal in the bathroom (I woke before him and didn't want to wake him). Hey, it had plenty of room, a great seat and perfect light from the window. :0) Just outside of our room us the central reception area of our hotel, a large gathering area with sofas, tables, and a bar. Breakfast is available here daily. We each had a pastry, me with a cappuccino, Bryan with a cup of chocolate (which he had to water down with milk it was...

May 20, 2013 - Monday - Rome

Up early to leave for Rome. Said goodbye to my guitar, Chris, Fiona and Ray-Ray (a local) and headed off by train to Rome with Jen & Bill via Lucca and Florence. Checked into the hotel, which is only two blocks from the train station, and walked around the city for a while. Back to the hotel for a nanna nap and off to dinner at a local ristorante.

May 19, 2013 - Pienza and Montepulciano

Another early morning with minimal sleep (did I mention Europe is known for rock hard beds and flat pillows? Not ideal for someone with a picky neck and back). Bryan and I were excited to continue our adventure in another town and another bed. We enjoyed breakfast overlooking the countryside, packed our bags, checked out, and took our last drive out of Montalcino (for this visit anyway). On our way to Montepulciano we had to drive by Pienza, making it the perfect time to visit. Antonio, our driver from Livorno to Cinque Terre last year,...

May 19, 2013 - Sunday - Workshop Day 14

Last day :-( Today was setup day - - going over the guitar with steel wool to remove the excess oil and leave a smooth finish - applying wax, waiting for it to dry and rubbing like crazy to leave a glossy finish - fitting the machine heads - drilling through the end pin holes and countersinking - making the saddle - fitting the fat e string and lowering the saddle to obtain the desired 'action' (string height above the frets) - fitting the remaining strings and checking for string buzz - playing it in One by one, we would finish the setup...

May 18, 2013 - Volterra and San Gimignano

We got an early start this morning after our hotel neighbors decided they would have an early morning. :0( We took it as a good opportunity for us to take a longer day trip to Volterra and San Gimignano once we finished breakfast. On the map it doesn't look far but the squiggly roads do require extra time to get from point A to point B. All in all it was about 1 hr and 45 minutes to get to Volterra, however the views make it worthwhile. Just listening to the GPS say the Italian road names was worth purchasing the maps. The names are so long...

May 18, 2013 - Day 11 - Civita to Rome

Staying in Civita was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. This place is so charming...so different...than any other place we've ever been to. I went out for a run early this morning and going across the footbridge was pretty amazing with the sun rising! I posted a couple of early morning pictures yesterday...hopefully you all saw them...really cool. The drive to Rome was nothing really special...mostly highway. A lot is made of the driving in Italy but it's really no worse than back home...at least out in the country. The cities...

May 18, 2013 - Leaving with a BANG: a plate of spaghetti

Today, was our last day in the Cinque Terre. We woke up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky; after eating our breakfast at the harbor, we filled our water bottles and started walking on the 2-hour hike between Vernazza and Monterosso (town 4-5 of the Cinque Terre). The hike was absolutely beautiful! We hiked straight up hundreds of stairs and then it leveled off and we walked for an hour over-looking the water and both the towns. The path was very narrow and the hike was popular so many times we had to be creative, in order to pass safely....

May 18, 2013 - Saturday - Workshop Day 13

And then there were two ... Chris's "Wingmen" we're the last two (again) to oil their guitars. Marcus applied his first coat just after lunch, while I was still filling in gaps and scraping the bindings down ready for the first major sanding. With some 'help' from Chris, my guitar was ready a bit before 9pm and I applied the first oil in time for a late dinner, and it came up a treat. Another two coats before bed and Chris had dragged me over the line to be ready to setup with the others in the morning.