Knitting through Italy pt. 1 (Pisa - Monterosso)

I've been back in San Francisco for a week, but haven't had a moment. We were putting a new Nick Massi into Jersey Boys. Members of the artistic staff were here, so we had rehearsal everyday. It's a foggy Monday morning, so I thought I'd do a little blogging about Italy.

The trip got off to a bit of a rough start. First, my luggage was lost flying from San Francisco to New York. I was really worried I wouldn't get it in time to go to Italy. We got my bags back the morning we left for Italy, so I had time repack the bags and head off to Kennedy. David booked us on a fancy airline called Max Jet. It's an all business class airline. The plane looks really odd, because it's an entire plane with seats that can fully recline. Our fun began in the departure lounge. We finally got to see what's behind those glass doors. MUCH better than sitting at a gate. It's full of comfy chairs and couches, computers w/internet, food and lots of liquor! Unfortunately our plane was three hours late. This meant we would miss our connection to Pisa. Fortunately because we were flying Max Jet they agreed to pay for a ticket to Pisa on another airline. This means we only ended up arriving in Pisa 1 hour later than planned. Not bad.

Flying business class is crazy. First of all, it's non stop food and liquor, then there's the entertainment system you're given w/tons of movies, tv, music, etc, but best of all there's getting a good nights sleep.

We really weren't that jet lagged when we got to Pisa. First stop (after a fantastic dinner) was to take the nighttime snap of the leaning tower.

The next day we took a train to Siena and I cast on Jenny's bikini top on the train. Then the knitting through Italy began.

First stop was the famous Campo and some lounging in the sun and knitting. David was my official knitting photographer.


Siena is a fabulous city. Little winding streets, great views everyplace you turn. The Duomo is amazing.



After walking our feet off it was time to relax in a square and knit (me)


or nap (David)

Before heading back to Pisa, it was time for Pizza and wine in the Campo. We liked the building reflected in the wine


The next morning we headed over to check out the tower, Cathedral and Baptistry. It was nice getting there early, very quiet. Here's the first view as you come down the street.

Here are some morning pictures.



























We bought a ticket to the Cathedral, but it wouldn't open for an hour, so we walked around the University area, and of course, knit for a while


Since the first cup of bikini top was coming pretty far along, it was time for it to pose by its first landmark.

That morning also began what I called, "David's job as official staff photographer of Italy". He would never walk past any couple or family who was splitting up to take photos of each other without stopping to ask "Would you like me to take your photo".

Speaking of photos . . .

We were cracking up at all the people posing holding up the tower. It's hard to tell from this photo, but there were tons of people lined up having people take the same picture.



After marveling at the inside of the Cathedral...











it was time to take a lovely train ride to Cinque Terre. We were staying in the town of Monterosso. Cinque Terre is on the Italian Rivera, and it's made up of five fishing villages connected by goat trails. It was a relaxing train ride with
plenty of time to knit, read and look out the window.

This was our very first view when we got off the train



We crossed under a tunnel to the old part of town where we were staying, and were greeted by views of fisherman and sparkling blue water


Our hotel had a tiered roof garden with fabulous views of the water. This was our first glimpse of the terraced gardens that are carved into every inch of the hills of Cinque Terre. We could not get over how much food this place grew. On our hotels little roof garden they grew lemons, grapes, plums, tomatoes, figs, squash, tons of herbs. Here's our view


That evening we got dressed up and went out to a fantastic dinner. The fish was so amazingly fresh and the pesto (which they are known for) was to die for.

Here I am in my Honeymoon cami from Knitty.com


Next post Monterosso - Riomaggo

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