The total destruction of Rome...and some quick trips to Tuscany

E' vero. Fires. Floods. What is happening Rome?!  Well, the good news is that we have survived and things are totally back to normal. In fact, you would never know that two weeks ago the Black Bloc made a resurgence in Rome during an otherwise peaceful rally which resulted in the burning of cars in San Giovanni, tear gas flying around Rome and the closure of some metro stops (the only way I was effected).  I was tucked safely away at a beautiful spa in Chianciano Terme in southern Tuscany.  In fact, I had no idea what was going on in the city until I got home, saw the metro closed and then met up with some friends who had been in the center of the action--with videos to prove it.

The streets of Rome

The peaceful spa I went to in Tuscany. 

Then this last week, a GIANT storm came down on Rome and literally flooded the streets and made then rivers, fast running rivers.  I naively headed out for work, with an umbrella, and quickly had to retreat back to the safety of my dry house.  Every road I tried to cross was knee deep (at least) with water. Then the metro shut down because it was flooded. Finally, after literally forging rivers, drenching my favorite knee high boots along with my entire outfit--two hours after I left the house, I ended up at work.

Disasters aside...I was lucky to have a Ariane in town visiting from beautiful Parigi. We explored some new bars and restaurants and ended up in Assisi on Saturday. Assisi is a beautiful and peaceful little Tuscan town tucked away on a hillside. Such a nice day!

Some MacGyvers hard at work to fill the water bottle :-)

Villa  Doria Pamphili- in the middle of Rome!

Capri, ci vediamo nei miei sogni...

Ciao!

This last week was truly a beautiful week, topped off with a quick weekend trip to the breath taking Capri! It was getting to be mid-week and the weather was still warm so we thought...perche no, another weekend of summer!!

The rest of the week in quick highlights, work is good but busy--always incredibly interesting. I have resumed playing tennis!!! yay!  And I joined Rome's version of Equinox...yes, a fancy gym in Testaccio.  But, I took a workout class taught in--ITALIAN--and while it was a bit challenging, I think my Italian will really improve quickly--gamba destra, gamba sinestra!

And then to the weekend--Capri is a little island in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the coast from Sorrento. I have always heard about Capri being so posh and literally a home to the stars (yes, we saw Dolce and Gabbana's house and Armani's seaside mansion), but it also was just a really truly beautiful island.

To get to Capri, we took every kind of public transportation there was--train to Naples, taxi to the Ferry, Ferry to Capri, funiculare to the top of the hill and finally arrived at our breath-taking hotel which over looked the Fraglioni. Amazing.

We swam in the beautiful water, took a little chair lift to the highest peak on the island, relaxed and took un giro di isola on a boat!

I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Bellissima.

So you can better picture the beauty :-)

View from our hotel...amazing. 

Ale on the chair lift. It was so peaceful!

Aww a flower pic, reminds me of my mom!  Ti voglio bene! 

All the cabs had the roofs cut off! haha so funny

Spritz in the piazzetta...obviously.

La grotta azzurra. We got into a row boat from our other boat and had to lay flat to get into the grotta....ma, e' bellissima, e' vero???