Retirement and Road Trip seem to go together, don’t they? This past spring we had the opportunity to head for the Grand Canyon with our son, Brian and his wife, Jenny. Dan and Brian shared the driving and it seemed like the long trek went quickly.
Judging by all the creature comforts we packed into the car you would have thought we were going for a week instead of 4 days! But we had a great time taking pictures, tasting beers from local brewery’s and sharing family stories. New memories were made like Brian bringing a hammock and stringing it between 2 trees so we could lookout over the canyon! Can you imagine how beautiful it was? It was a bit scary too!
Three of the four of us are NOT morning people, but we were all up and headed for the park at 4:15 to see the sunrise beam light over the red canyon. Dan drove and parked the car inside the park. By moonlight we hiked in to find the “perfect spot” to watch the day begin. My pictures don’t do justice to the magnificence of the Canyon, but I did manage to capture a few good shots.
And yes, later in the day as we were hiking, an elk wandered up to a public drinking fountain to have a sip of water. A park visitor was happy to give this big animal a slurp before moving on.
We had a great time traveling with our grown children. Now we have our free “lifetime” National Park pass. As senior citizens it cost us a big ten bucks. Who knows where we will go next…
Final stop on the “Best of Italy Tour” with Trafalger (and a bit of Rick Steves’ thrown in) was Siena. We knew nothing about this city except that St. Catherine of Siena was my Patron Saint. It brought back childhood memories at the parochial school I attended and all the kids talked about who they were named after. I had no idea where Italy was or why my parents chose that particular saint. It is too bad that as an adult I never thought to ask, because it would have added meaning to this stop.
Once in Siena the four of us broke off from the group and headed down three terraced streets to the site where Catherine had a room and worshiped. Pretty much all I knew about her was that she played a role in moving the Popes Palace from Avignon, France back to Rome.
Today the church, named for St. Catherine, serves as a local parish. There was a statue of her inside the courtyard and I couldn’t resist posing for a picture. I managed to buy a thimble with her name and picture on it to add to my thimble collection.
rly as we had several places to see. Our first stop was Pisa. It was not what we expected; it was better! It really was leaning at a pretty steep pitch and neither of us wanted to hike up (or pay the Euro’s). The tower has 7 tiers. The first 3 floors began to sink shortly after being built because they were so heavy. In the early days Pisa was an important port city, so the surrounding soil tended to be soft and not the best for supporting a marble structure such as a tall tower. Building stopped for a while until another architect came along and added 3 more marble stories. You can imagine that it began to tilt even more! By the time the bell tower was added a total of 300 years had gone by since the original building began. We could not believe the detail and ornateness of the tower. You needed to see it up close to appreciate its true beauty. They say it is structurally safe now, but we figured we’d pass despite the amazing views there must have been from the top. Walking the perimeter was fine for us!
tists, poets, and of course, Pinocchio! 
During the Renaissance it was the wealthiest and most politically influential city of the region.
We also went to Santa Croce, the church where Michelangelo, da Vinci, Marconi, and dozens other famous men were buried. It was almost like an indoor cemetery. What a beautiful church. Sim
ple compared with other Duomo’s we’d seen, and almost like another museum. The marble carvings and tributes to the deceased were tasteful and very elegant.
We ended the evening with a magnificent prime rib dinner at a local restaurant. We had some great wine and champagne along with a brief tour of the underground wine seller of years gone by. We brought some wine home so we can continue to enjoy Tuscan wines. 
Exhausted by yet another long day of walking and overloading of the senses, we fell asleep the minute we hit the pillows. According to my Fitbit, we managed to put in exactly 19,000 steps that day! It felt like it too!!
that was spectacular. We ate a quick dinner and headed to bed after an exhausting day.
abela where the Borromeo family have their home or rather, Palace. The 18-year-old princess still lives here. Most impressive were the terraced gardens. Besides incredible topiaries, flowers, and
fountains, there were a dozen or more white peacocks roaming around!
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona. We walked into a courtyard where Juliet leaned out her balcony window to hear her beloved Romeo below. There was even a bronze statue of her in the courtyard. There are special
ty candies named after the famous couple: Romeo’s Kiss which was made of chocolate and
s minted for Italy. It is also known as the fashion center of the country. We walked through a huge indoor mall/shopping district that was built about the time our country was born! Beautiful arches with glass panels adorned the ceiling. All the shops were high-end, designer boutiques like Versace, Luis Vuitton, Prada, Armani, Farragamo, etc. It was exceptionally crowded and filled with lots of energy. We’ve never seen such expensive stores all in one place before.
t stop on the tour was to a neo-gothic Duomo name in honor of Mary. Hanging inside was supposedly a nail used to crucify Christ. It was one of the most ornate churches Dan and I had ever been in. Outside the Duomo were dozens of 3D marble scenes depicting stories from the Bible. We made a game of walking the perimeter of this massive building trying to figure out what Biblical story was being told. It was sort of our own little scavenger hunt and Biblical knowledge game rolled into one. Our friends we traveled with from home brought Milano cookies and we ate them as we walked. Seemed quite appropriate!
