The Stokley Girls go to Italy

Mom and I at the Coliseum in Rome, Italy

Last year, We kicked off our Stokley Girls travel tradition in Paris, a beautiful city for a beautiful start. This year, we planned a road trip through Italy, starting in Rome and ending in Florence with a few stops along the Chiani Highway and one sidebar to Cinque Terre.

Itinerary
Day 1, 2 - Rome
Day 3, 4, 5 - Chianti
Day 5, 6, 7 - Florence

Trip Goals
• Lay eyes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome
• Walk around inside the Coliseum in Rome
• Enjoy a picnic in a Roman park
• Eat all the gelato in Italy

• Night time taxi cruises of the sites - a tradition!
• Hot air balloon ride in the Chianti wine region
• Lots of bike riding around the Chianti wine region with stops at castles, vineyards and churches
• Day trips to Sienna and Cinque Terre
• Italian cooking class - also a tradition!
• Walk between villages of Cinque Terre
• Take photos of Cinque Terre from a boat
• Visit museums in Florence
• Drink espresso, the kind with the foam on top
• Take amazing pictures with my new camera, including one of us holing up the leaning tower of Piza
• Blog along the way

Blog Posts
The Stokley Girls go to Italy

Links

Fortyseven Hotel - Hotel in Rome
Castello di Spaltenna - Castle/hotel along Chianti Highway
NH Porta Rossa - Hotel in Florence
Driver in Italy - Recommended driver/tour guide

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Lake Austin Spa Photos

For the past four years, Mom and I have spent a long weekend at the Lake Austin Spa in Austin, TX. We love it. It's relaxing, the food is yummy, the yoga and activity classes are enjoyable, the other guests are always interesting and the pool in the pool barn is shady and addicting. 

I've never taken a camera before, but this year I took some practice shots with my new Cannon 5D Mark II. I think they turned out pretty well. All in all, I don't think I really captured what it's like to go to this place or how Mom and I keep going back to the same spa resort but always end up with a different experience.

Enjoy!

Flowers and Gardens

Pomegranate

Persimmons

Eggplant

Animals

These two ducks live near the yoga deck

These two geese live near the activity deck. They were named
Will and Kate and are never more than three feet away from each other

A pretty, lazy cat

This squirrel caught me taking his picture

Will and Kate again

In the Water

Mom getting on the aqua bike 

Mom on the aqua bike

Paddle boards on the activity dock

Paddle boarding lesson

Me being awesome at Paddle boarding

Wine Tasting in the Kitchen

Flowers picked from the grounds

Wine tasting

 Just Around

Walkway in front of the hotel rooms

Shady hammock

Trumpet creeper is everywhere

A sitting room near the lobby

One of the three resort pools

Mile marker on the trail

The water sports dock

The library

Landscaping along the trail

A viewing area along the trail to the spa building

The Yoga Deck

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Homemade Hummer Ads

We were infatuated with the Hummer. Obsessed even. Every so often, I would look back at the Hummer and think, "Oh, that looks like a commercial." It always looked like the Hummer had just accomplished some incredible feat, like climbing mountains or racing along mud soaked trails. I couldn't help but take pictures. We called these pictures our Hummer Ads. 

We were so infatuated with the Hummer that Husband bought one when we got home. We owned it for a whole 2 months before he realized it wasn't really for him and traded it in for his usual truck, but on this road trip, we were glad to have a big, off-roading vehicle that was totally enclosed. We could leave our stuff in the car and run off to explore. 

And if we didn't have it, we wouldn't have been able to get to roads like this one.

Or this one.

Definitely not this one.

And I don't think we would have seen these elk grazing in oceanside pastures in this state park.

Well, I think it was a state park because I took this picture. And I remember we were really close to the caretaker's house, and he was out mowing his yard so we stopped and talked to him. I think he was surprised to see other people.

Oh, did I mention the awesome dirt roads?

But I think the photo below, at a look out right before crossing the golden gate bridge, was the #1 Hummer Ad picture. You can see the dirt from our trip; it's like a badge of honor that shouts, "Hey, look at this guy. He just had an adventure."

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The Yellow Flowers

Yellow flowers! They were everywhere and they were beautiful.

 I think it looks like Broom, or the Oregon state flower, Oregon Grape, although the leaves don't look right for either of those two options. So, if you know what they are, please leave a comment!

 If you're from Texas, then you will understand when I say that these flowers were like yellow blue bonnets. They just lined the road, forever and ever.

They grew on cliffs. 

They grew on the beach.

Everywhere.

I really have no idea why I took so many pictures of flowers.

Even other types of flowers.

I think it was just so different from what I'm used to.

In Texas, you only see this many flowers if you're looking at blue bonnets or indian paint brushes.

But I'm not complaining. I think this one below is my favorite.

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