Life of a Single Married Lady

From Switzerland we traveled to arguably the most beautiful place on the planet: Cinque Terre, Italy. Some might prefer the Caribbean for sparkling, clear waters and tropical paradise-ness, but this has totally got it beat in my book! Cinque Terre, or "Five Lands", sits on the Mediterranean coast as part of the Italian Riviera. The coastline, the five cities that make up Cinque Terre, and the surrounding hills and vineyards are nationally protected and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area has been settled and farmed for about 1000 years, and is known for its wine, olives, anchovies, and pesto. Wil and I tried them, and they are all the best we've ever tasted! Manarola clock tower. By the church in Manarola; the cornerstone is from 1338! Manarola by sunset, so beautiful. The five cities of Cinque Terre are Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Trains, walking paths, and boats are the main connections between cities; I thi...

Geneva: 7-9 September Chatel-St-Denis: 9-11 September After our delightful stay with Radu, Ozana, and the kids, we headed off to Geneva. We stayed in hostels for most of the trip up to this point; this was our first experience with Airbnb. Airbnb is a site where people with spare rooms or vacation houses can rent out their space to travelers. Travelers must evaluate their hosts, and hosts actually evaluate travelers too. That way, we as travelers can choose the safest places to stay, and the people we choose can see that we are respectful guests. It went great!! We stayed with a man named Max who has an apartment in Geneva and works at the UN. He was wonderful, very friendly and welcoming, and we had a great time talking with him. Stealthy picture through a window at the Hotel De Ville, a 15th century building that still serves as the seat of government in Geneva. In keeping with wall art all over Switzerland, here is some wall art in Geneva! Also, cannons from the 1800s. ...

Innsbruck: 4 September Buchs: 4-7 September Lots of pictures in this one! After Prague, we went by night train (and then some more day train) to Innsbruck, Austria, and spend a few hours there to decompress from train travel. The city is fairly small and located in the north Alps, and has hosted the Winter Olympics, Winter Paralympics, and the First Winter Youth Olympics. We weren't there for long enough to visit the Olympic park, but we could see it from a long way away! We took a funicular train partway up one of the mountains for a spectacular view of the city, and saw a few other landmarks as well. Inside the Cathedral of St James. There's been a church on this spot since the 1100s, but the most recent one was built in the 1700s. The painting hanging above the altar is the Maria Hilf  by Lucas Cranach the Elder, and is one of the most venerated images of Mary in all of Christendom.   Panoramic view of Innsbruck from Hungerburg, reached by funicular. Not sure if y...