Manwaring Highlights

Amsterdam is a lively, romantic, beautiful city, rich in diversity, culture, tolerance, and full of extensive canals, bicycles, world-famous museums, historical sites, active night-life, and international cuisine.    Amsterdam’s Central Station  Rijksmuseum with more than one million artifacts including paintings by Rembrandt, Hals, and Vemeer.   Rijksmuseum and Vondelpark And of course – ‘I amsterdam’ sign!   Amsterdam’s main mode of transportation. .  Other forms of transportation.  View outside of our hotel room.  Yummy pastries, everywhere…   hand-dipped chocolates,  the biggest assortment…

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Milan is a metropolis in Italy’s northern Lombardy region. It is a global capital of fashion and design, national stock exchange, and known for its high-end dining and shopping.   View of the city from our hotel balcony.  Cathedral of Santa Maria Nascente or II Duomo. One of the most magnificent churches in the world and can seat up to 40,000 people at one time.  Building of the II Duomo began in the 14th century and was not completed until the…

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Venice is the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region and is built on more than 100 small islands in a marshy lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. Venice is renowned for its unique setting, architecture, and artwork.  Our little (but expensive) hotel in Venice.  Venice selfies…  Large ships dropping of tourists in Venice for day trips.  We enjoyed taking a small boat ride around Venice to see the sites.  The Grand Canal…  Ferry boats were the main mode of transportation for…

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Italy’s Tuscany region not only encompasses Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa, but also covers the Apennine Mountains, Elba beaches, and Chianti’s famous olive groves and vineyards.  These first three pictures are of the Tuscan countryside taken from San Gimignano.  Views of Tuscany from Siena.  Poggio Alloro was an all organic farm where we ate lunch one day, it also included vineyards, orchards, restaurant, distillery and B&B.  Wine making,  and aging.  Organic milk and meat were produced on the farm….

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Pisa is also in Italy’s Tuscany region and is best know for its leaning tower of the Romanesque, striped-marble cathedral located in the Piazza dei Miracoli.    No trip to the Leaning Tower of Pisa would be complete without taking a million goofy pictures of someone ‘holding up the tower’!  Piazza dei Miracoli which includes the Cathedral, Baptistery, Bell tower or Leaning Tower, and Monumental Churchyard. The Duomo (medieval cathedral) is Pisan Romanesque architecture dating back to the 11th century…

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 View of San Gimignamo from the rolling hills of Tuscany. San Gimignamo is a unique city because of its medieval architecture, and soaring towers.  At the height of its glory, wealthy families built around 72 towers showing their wealth and power, today only 14 towers remain. San Gimignamo also has some of the best gelato in the world, with the most unique flavors. Piazza della Cisterna is beautiful at the top of San Gimignano. Newly married couple taking pictures around Rocca…

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The city of Siena is in central Tuscany and is know for its medieval brick buildings, fan-shaped town square, 14th century tower, and famous horse race.   Wall surrounding the entire city of Siena.  Palazzo Pubblico or Town Hall – the tower is called Torre del Mangia.  Our wonderful Tuscany and Siena tour guides.   Plazza del Campo, a sea-shell shaped plaza where twice a year the Palio Horse Race takes place with horses chosen from the 17 different districts of Siena called Contrades.  Sienna’s 17 districts or…

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Florence, is the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region and birthplace of the Renaissance.   Our hotel in downtown Florence,  with yet another obscure entrance.  Our hotel room, which was a little too period for Brad’s liking.  Views looking out our hotel room window.  Even the Hard Rock Cafe, in the middle of the shopping district, was a work of art. Florence Medieval Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in the world, called II Duomo di Firenze built 1296-1436.  It has the…

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Pompeii  Cameos common in Naples. Pompeii was once a thriving, sophisticated Roman city near the coast of the Bay of Naples, before being buried by tons of ash and pumice from a major eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.  Unique foliage on the walk to Pompeii.  These next three pictures are of the Pompeii Gladiator arena and quarters…  Pompeii streets and storefronts…    Pompeii’s version of standing bars.  Lead pipes showing there was indoor plumbing.  More evidence of pipes for running water….

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25th Wedding Anniversary Trip to Italy  We have been talking about going to Europe for years, and finally the time was right so we chose to visit Italy and spend a couple days in Amsterdam. (Selfie on the long flight to Rome) Rome is Italy’s capital with nearly 3,000 years of globally influential art, architecture and culture on display!  Out hotel was more like a Bed and Breakfast, in the middle of an apartment building. We would have never found it…

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