Maine, Day 6: Weds, Aug. 10, 2016

Since Marianne's cottage is right on the Sheepscot River, we decided to take out the flotilla: one canoe, one tandem kayak, and one single kayak.

Unfortunately, it has been a dry summer and the river was very low, forcing us to lift our craft over a rather treacherous beaver dam about 100 yards upriver from launching. We saw and followed a beautiful heron for a bit although I was not able to catch it with my camera--probably Wendy did and maybe she will send me a picture to post...hint, hint.

We made it all the way to Long Pond Lake (I understand there are several bodies of water with the same name in Maine), got rained on a little bit, made it back (over the damn dam), and hung around working on puzzles, reading, and relaxing.

I think this was the day we drove to a veggie stand and got some lovely things to make a salad. We cooked meals at "home" when we were not out and about. The cottage was great for that with a fully equipped kitchen.

Maine, Days 4 & 5: Mon-Tues, Aug. 8-9, 2016

These were our two days to spend in Acadia National Park. Took off reasonably early, drove to Lincolnville with two cars to leave Kamden with Marianne's son, Josh, and his family.

We arrived in Bar Harbor (aka "Bah Hahbah") and it was a zoo! Nevertheless, we scored a parking place and had a good lunch at the Side Street Cafe. We drove into the park and, after a bit of backtracking, managed to arrive at Sandy Beach where we picked up the trailhead for a steep hike around the adjacent headland, Great Head Trail.

We went back and checked into our motel, The High Seas, washed the dust off and a couple intrepid women even checked out the pool. Had some nice wine and then headed back up the road to the Chart Room for yummy fish dinners.

Tuesday morning we had a really un-wonderful breakfast across the street at the Log Cabin restaurant, then headed back to the park. The ranger suggested several trails for us to check out on the other peninsula of the park. We drove up Cadillac Mountain for the views and then drove over to the "quiet" part of the park.

We drove through the "precious hamlet" (so described in Anne's guidebook) of Somesville, and it was indeed precious with a nice little museum we spent time at and a pretty public library.

We drove to Ship's Harbor and did another hike along the headlands. Saw some interesting collections of rock cairns on one of the beaches, including a little arch.

Saw some great tide pools which I took videos of and will post later.

Stopped in Bass Harbor to check out the lighthouse and took the steep stairs down to the rocky shore.

Then the long drive back. Stopped in Belfast to have dinner at one of Marianne's favorite places, Darby's, and went for a walk down to the harbor to watch a beautiful sunset.

We stopped in Lincolnville and picked up Kamden at Josh's; got home very tired.

Maine, Day Two: Sat., Aug. 6, 2016

We visited Marianne's old stomping grounds. She lived in Port Clyde for over 10 years.

We went to Luke's on Tenants Harbor and I shared my first lobster role with Hal. 

Then we strolled to the library in Tenants Harbor (now a home decor shop) where Marianne used to be the librarian for 11 years.

We drove by the house she built in Port Clyde and spent some time at the Marshall Point Lighthouse and Museum.

Maine, Day One: Fri., Aug 5, 2016

We lolly-gagged around this delightful rental cottage that Marianne and her sons built on the Sheepscot River. Then we went to see the house she refurbished and currently has for sale.

Headed to Rockland for the 1st Friday art walk. There was some interesting art along the street.

The Farnsworth Museum was open and free during the art walk, so we checked out the rooftop garden.

And we got to see their collection of Wyeth paintings...fortunately none were for sale :-)

We had dinner at a cafe recommended by Marianne--Cafe Miranda--and it was delicious!

Additional photos of Italy trip: Oct. 2015

If you didn't get enough visual stimulation from the previous blog posts about my trip, I have posted LOTS of photos about our stay in Cinque Terre here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12746498@N04/albums/72157660481287248
And additional photos from the walking tour in Tuscany here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12746498@N04/albums/72157661221134585

To Firenze (Florence): Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015

We left Pienza shortly after breakfast and took a shuttle to the train station at Chiusi. Then about an hour and a half ride to Firenze. Caught a cab out to our room which is in a fairly modern building a bit north of town. 

Checked on plane reservations and found we could not check in online, so headed out, walked along the river and eventually caught a bus to take us up the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo, from where we had a nice overview of the city. There is also a replica of Michelangelo's "David" there.

Wandered down the hill and along the Arno River and I was able to get some decent reflection shots of the Ponte Vecchio and one end of the Uffizi Gallery.

This is the mob scene that is the Ponte Vecchio--I cannot imagine what this place must be like in high season!

Stopped for a very late lunch/ early dinner at a self-service cafeteria that turned out to be one of our most expensive meals--guess they charge what the tourist traffic will bear.

Stopped to take a few pics of what I think is the Medici Palace.

Then on to admire the Duomo. It is such intricate architecture and art that it's hard to know what to try and capture.

These are replicas of the baptistry doors created by Berleschi (need to check the spelling on that).

Anne and I did not really have time to do any of the museums or galleries justice, but it was still nice to soak up the exteriors. Caught a bus back to Giottino Residence and calling it an early night as we have a 7 am taxi to the airport tomorrow.