The Ends of the Earth

I've been a little out of touch-- we extended our August traveling into September. But we're back. And on dial-up! I guess you can't ask for everything.

After 10+ days of Silent Camp (yes, I did it without talking. The whole time.), we headed to Juan-les-Pins, a beach town in the South of France just outside of Cannes.









There, you can drink fruity cocktails from coconut monkey with a hat.






And then this is the view during the day. This is where Will conveniently suggested I start looking for work in films headed for the Cannes Film Festival. I think he might be onto something.


Once back from France, we headed to Sardegna.








We stayed at the Hotel Da Cecco, run by the lovely DeCecco family. The design was maybe a little dated (think Miami Vice and candy canes), but you really couldn't beat the service...










or the view.


After I got over a brief fear of drowning and being eaten by sharks (which don't actually exist in Sardinian waters), I was finally certified as an official scuba diver. Didn't get any photos from that part of the trip, mainly since a wet suit and goggles isn't exactly the most flattering
outfit. Also, my trusty camera might not be so trusty when wet.

Then back to the mainland. Sang and Lisa came for a visit. Will's dad arrived. Sang and Lisa headed to Rome and we headed to Abruzzo to hike up a mountain. A big mountain.







Here we are at the beginning. I had no idea what I was in for.








We literally climbed above the clouds.








Clouds? Check. Mountains? Check.






I have no idea why they put a "No Hunting" sign all the way up here. It seemed that all you could really hunt were rocks. And the occasional butterfly.







Maybe the "No Hunting" warning should have gone in the field with all the sheep. This was near the end. Near the car. I was never happier to see sheep.


Now we're back in Umbria, nursing sore legs (read: walking around like creeky old folk). The upcoming plans involve picking some wine grapes in October and perhaps some travel through Northern Italy.

Although, the temptation to travel south and stick with more warm weather activities is great... wearing a sweater now actually makes me kinda miss the scuba suit...