Esta es para Papi & Mami

ITC - International Training Capital ILO - International Labor Organization This the place where my parents spent a few months while my father did some training and wrote a paper on it back in 1978. Papi, Mami, me dio mucho gusto haber estado en el lugar donde estuvieron ustedes y en la biblioteca donde pasaste tanto tiempo Papi. I love you. By the way, while I was there, I saw people from all over the world, didn't want to take pictures of them so I wouldn't get in trouble, it was a bit of a 'song & dance' to get into a UN facility. But I sure did like the feel... wouldn't mind working for the UN in the future... maybe?? =)

Sailing =)

So we got to eat and sleep on the sailboat, enjoy the sun... and even watch fireworks!... on the 4th of July!!! Of course, they were celebrating something else.. my friends didn't even know what, but I thought it was pretty fabulous to have fireworks on the 4th even on the other side of the Atlantic, what are the chances?? AAaannnd.. I got to dive into the rich blue sea.. a little scary but I saw others do it off of their yachts, so I jumped in. The water was so beautiful and I knew that if I didn't, I would regret it later - and it was SO wonderful to be in there and see mountains and beautiful postcard-looking views from where I was swimming... definitely worth jumping into the cold blue water which seemed to have no bottom... =)

Cinque Terre

The "Cinque Terre" (five lands) are small beautiful villages RIGHT on the Ligurian coast of Italy, right above Tuscany. Fortunately for me, Claudia's parents live right south of the Cinque Terre. Usually these villages are visited by tourists either by train or by ferry, we did the ferry. They are tiny, gorgeous, full of history, and with so much character... would SO love to live there. =) Aren't these the best pictures ever???

Porto Venere

Hello everyone.... so I had a LONG weekend away from Claudia's house, so couldn't really update. But I am now well-rested again and here is what my weekend looked like (next couple of posts). We went to La Spezia again, and from there traveled to Porto Venere (right next door), to "Cinque Terre" (5 lands) and then also went sailing.. so here is beautiful Porto Venere... =) We got to walk through it at night and then saw it again from the water as we took a ferry to see the Cinque Terre. Hey by the way... the black ship you see is Giorgio Armani's boat... =O

La Spezia downtown..

La Spezia is a small town in Liguria, north of Tuscany. La Spezia is where my friend was raised... the town I just fell in love with.. Here are some more pictures of it from walking around this morning.. Claudia was walking in front of me, she's in a couple of pictures. Did I mention this town is right by the sea and surrounded my hills on all other sides...?