(I’m going to post about the day, and I will attempt to add photos after I post. I don’t want the photos to make things not work!)

UPDATE: I managed to get some photos to load, but not all that I wanted to post. So it goes. We’ll see if more load later.

Today we woke and went down to the same place we had dinner last night: in the morning it’s our breakfast room. The breakfast was tasty, but it’s all pretty much sweet things like cakes with fruit. If I ate that way all the time I’d be sunk! Then back to our room we went.

We eventually went out and followed the Rick Steves‘ walking tour. I think we should have done those for each city (when available), as it kind of gives an overview of the place. One spot he recommended, though, has since closed. I’m guessing Covid did them in. We did go up another tower, Torre del Moro, and I survived, but it isn’t getting any easier to be up high like that. (The many stairs, though, are getting easier for me.) When I am at the top I hold on to something the entire time, and I have to talk to myself (our loud, sorry to say), telling myself it’s okay, and I’ll be all right. I keep thinking I need to do more of these so that, eventually, I lose this fear and the pain that comes with it. I’m not sure it works that way, though.

Before finishing the Steves’ tour we stopped for lunch, and still managed to order more than we could eat. Guess we aren’t going to learn on that one! Then more walking.

We completed the tour, ending at a very old church. It said it wasn’t open, but the doors were wide open so we took some photos from the door. The frescoes were really lovely. The views near the church were great, too.

Then it was back up to the Duomo, but we planned on getting gelato from a place Rich Steves recommended. Um … closed! I don’t know if they were just closed because it was August (some establishments go on vacation, per the notes on doors), or if they are another Covid casualty. We did, though, find our gelato. (Update: the place we went to is the same business! I have no idea why the other place is closed.) We also purchased our tickets for the funicular we’ll need tomorrow to get to our train, and tickets to the Duomo, which we next visited.

Then it was, again, siesta time. We have become quite accustom to these!

Side Note: To enter churches people are asked to dress appropriately. So many women have to pick up the cover-ups that they provide. I wonder why they just don’t prepare for their church visits. But what do I know? I”m just an old lady! Some men, too, seem rather inappropriately dressed. One man today was wearing a playboy t-shirt. Um. REALLY?! I’ve seen others, too, that just seem a bit of an odd choice for a place that many consider a sacred space. If I entered another religion’s space, I would want to show respect even while not following their belief system. I’m just kind of surprised many don’t feel that way. And the posing for photos … well … it’s pretty bizarre.

Okay, I know, I know … Old. Lady. Grumps.

Sorry!

Back to the day. After a siesta Dan still had some photo work to do, so I went out to find a restaurant that was recommended in Rick Steves’ book. Typical me, I got lost. But I actually love getting lost and wandering, and I nearly always manage to find my way to the place I intended to find and, sure enough, I did. The restaurant seemed closed, though. So much for that. Maybe it would open later, but I couldn’t tell. So I walked some more. And got lost again! I ended up in an area that was nearly empty of people. It was quite nice! I eventually wound up back on Via Duomo (HAH! Spell check wanted to change that to “Via Doom”!) and from there it was easy to get back to our place.

Meeting back up with Dan we went out (again!) to find dinner. We wandered quite a lot, and checked out a number of places. Honestly, I just love the wandering bit. I could probably even skip dinner. Who needs food, after all? (And I joke about that, but I really don’t need to eat. I really enjoy food, but I am rarely, if ever, really hungry. Dan thinks I’m crazy … and he could be right!

We ended up at a place called Trattoria la Grotta … and I later realized it was another Rick Steves‘ recommendation. Food was good, and the restaurant wasn’t so noisy … once the crying kids left! (And hey, I’m okay with crying kids. That really doesn’t bug me. We had our share of rough days with our kiddos, and now I miss the young ones quite a lot.)

We are back in the room. Tomorrow we leave for the next city. Time is FLYING by, and I wish it would all slow down, but this is how life goes … one day you’re in your thirties and the next you are asked by the woman who sells tickets for the tower if you are a senior citizen and you have to look at her somewhat sadly and say “yes” and take the discount. Go figure.

OKAY … posting time. Then I’ll see if I can add photos.

Ciao!