Sigh . . . Labor Day Already {or} What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Where did it go?  Summer was just here . . . it seems like we were just celebrating Memorial Day and now it's September and Labor Day Weekend is over and the kids are all heading back to school and {sigh} we will be looking at Christmas before we can blink again.

So just like my son, I will write about "What I Did On My Summer Vacation."

Well, {deep breath}. . .  I visited 9 countries and 27 cities.  I sailed the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Aegean and the Black Seas.  I cruised through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorous Straits.  I saw Art and Ancient ruins.  I walked in mythological places where pagan gods were worshiped and I visited Cathedrals and Basilicas and Chapels and Mosques.  I stood in places where miracles occurred and also succumbed to a few tourist traps.  I accidentally ended up on a nudist beach in Greece with my teenagers (YIKES)!!!  I took the trip of a lifetime and quickly ticked off item after item on my bucket list.

Even now as I revisit these places in my mind and in my photographs, I realize that there is no way to ever capture those moments again and to try and describe it is a futile effort.

But did I say that there was ART everywhere?  I mean EVERYWHERE!  So as I work on my goal to blog regularly, I will try to share a little art from my journeys and hopefully it will inspire others.  Did I say there was ART everywhere?????

So I'll leave you tonight with a few breathtaking shots of Firenze (or Florence, as us Americans call it) 

My first views of the Duomo--it literally took my breath away. . .

My first real Italian espresso!

Did I say ART is everywhere?  Street artists creating masterpieces - and then at night, they are sadly washed away, forever gone . . .

And what trip to Italy is complete without gelato?????

Just reading this post makes me long to be back there . . . some day, if you can, you must see this magical city!