With thirty-one women let loose in Italy, you can be sure that there were a lot of laughs. Laughter during dinner, on the bus, while shopping; laughter in small groups, with the entire group, and between roommates late into the night. How do you capture laughter? These photos are an attempt ...
Brady Bunch Balconies
In planning the trip, I had been promised that our entire group would have balconies with a sea view at our hotel in Santa Margherita Ligure. And boy did they deliver. When we entered our rooms we didn't even take note of the furnishings but walked straight out to our balconies ... which all looked out on the sea and which were all beside, on top, or underneath each other. It was so much fun.
P. S. This was our view ... hence the smiles.
And note ... this photo is unedited.
Packing, not Packing
It was our last night in Santa Margherita and I did not want to leave. And because I did not want to leave, when we returned to our room after a late dinner I procrastinated ... I sat on the balcony, wrote in my travel journal, posted some photos on Facebook, and did everything EXCEPT pack. So in order to light a fire under my don't-feel-like-packing-self, my loving sister sent this photo to the ENTIRE group.
Shame is a good motivator. I packed.
But I wish I had a photo of the TWO TIMES my sister walked into a men's restroom without realizing it. Now THAT was funny.
Where in the World is Bia?
After attending Mass at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, we explored because there is NOTHING more magical than Venice by night. At one point I stopped under a streetlight to use my map to identify a landmark. I didn't realize that my group had walked on. All of a sudden I heard a burst of laughter. When I looked up, my friends were laughing as they took this photo because (evidently) I looked like a tourist. You think? ;-)
Off With Their Heads!
During lunch on Isola dei Pescatori (Fisherman's Island) we were served a delicious appetizer. Lightly fried with fresh lemon juice squeezed on top, these tiny fish were meant to be eaten whole. Poor Mollie just couldn't do it, so she neatly and precisely cut off the heads.
Not everything funny happened in Italy
There was a lot of laughter in airports, going and coming. Here is an example of airport shenanigans in Amsterdam, our layover before landing in Florence.
Meet Fabio
Well, his name was not Fabio, but that how we thought of him. Fabio was the very solicitous driver of this train that took us down to the town of Orta San Giulio. When Fabio first greeted us and helped us into the individual cars, his flowing locks were up in a pony tail. But when he started driving -- and you have to imagine this next part in slow motion -- he pulled out the rubber band from his hair and shook his head so the wind could swoosh it about. I was watching him thinking, "Why did he take down his ponytail?" And then I looked at the women in the first three cars, all of whom were staring at his flowing locks. I couldn't stop laughing.
And this is my good friend Gayle, so sweet and soft-spoken, who was the only one brave enough to ask for a photo.
Thalia at the Opera
During a guided tour of La Scala Opera House in Milan, we discovered that Thalia = Maria Callas.
Private Yacht
Portofino is the playground of the rich and famous. And the yachts reflect this. Then we spotted this lowly rowboat and declared it as the ONE we could afford. Maybe.
All that leather ...
was calling my name. Literally.
Riddle Me This
For some inexplicable reason, by the end of our trip our luggage had multiplied. See all that luggage being loaded on the boat? That is the luggage from our group, sent on ahead to the airport. And see us walking through St. Mark's Square? We are carrying even more luggage. Nope. No one did any shopping.
Espresso Anyone?
Meet Rocco. Everything about him was impeccable: his dress, the interior and exterior of the bus, his manners. And then there is this: I noticed that sometimes when we stopped he fiddled with a compartment at the front of the bus (at the bottom of the stairs). I was curious, so he showed me his secret. Inside the compartment was an ESPRESSO MACHINE. Not a small one, but a full-sized machine with a steam wand for frothing milk in case one preferred a cappuccino! He offered to make me an espresso, but as much as I was tempted I didn't want to divulge his secret (not even our tour guide knew). Besides, he always gave me free bottles of water.
Funniest Text
After we returned from our trip and thirty-one women began posting photos of our adventures all over Facebook, I received the following text message. It's official ... we have a waiting list for our next trip.
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