Carolyn and Joe have returned

This is Carolyn signing on. I would have reported in earlier, but the blog homepage made me sign in, and I had no idea what my username & password were. Anyhow, I finally figured it out, and can now give my much-desired opinions. Spain doesn't like us much, as far as I can tell. The people in Barcelona and Madrid were somewhat rude to us. Which made it interesting to be stuck in their country for a few days. That is not the best way to visit a place, though. Way too stressful and tiring. Italy and Austria, however, were beautiful and the people were warm and friendly. The language barrier made things interesting. Lots of pantomiming. We saw the Eastern Alps in Italy & Austria, Venice, Florence (statue of David), Pisa (as in the leaning tower), Tuscany (Sienna, Perugia-where the chocolate factory is, Chianciana), Ancona (where Dani's parents' condo is) Naples, Pompei, the Amalfi Coast (the isle of Capri, Sorreneto) and finally Rome (Vatican & Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basillica, Pantheon, Forum, Collesium, etc). We put 3,000 miles on the rented Fiat station wagon, and enjoyed every minute. Got a little tense at the end when we got stranded, but all is well. We're broke and tired, but had a GREAT time. Trip of a lifetime.

Now to clean up the mess from Frances and Jeanne. Yippee