Day 7---Ravello

I was so excited to be able to visit the Carthusia Monastery before we left today. Turns out, all of the information was in Italian, so I'll have to look up the actual history. I just know how it connects to the perfume---which of course, was why I wanted to see it.

 The monastery dates back to the 1400's.

 It looks like they've renovated as much of the frescos as they can. Those were pretty awesome.

 Now they've turned it in to a sort of art gallery. The "once gardens" were not much to look at.

However, the gardens from our hotel overlooked the monastery and made for a nice view. 

After touring we went back to the hotel to finish packing up. I left earlier than Butch---who was going to meet our transfer agent. That way, I could take my time and rest when necessary on the uphill climb. 

As I was exiting the hotel grounds, there was a tour underway. There was this really old man---all hunched over with a walker barely shuffling along. Seriously---someone should have told him how hard this would be. Once you come down, you have not choice but to walk back up. 

We have been so amazed at the people in improper footwear. Ahem---Sandy, Stephanie & Mindy---who sacrifices comfort for fashion---I used to do that too, back in the day. 

That reminds me of the very first time we came to Italy---probably 10 years ago. I got so mad at Butch. We were in Tuscany. He and his brother went to check out the place where we were going to have dinner.  He failed to tell me that you had to walk up to the walled city via a very steep road. I had on cute, strapless, wedges. It was nearly impossible to walk uphill in them. I ended up taking them off and walking barefooted---and you know how something like that wigs me out. Luckily for him---one of the best meals we had cooled me down! Now I'm careful to be sure to always have comfortable shoes when traveling. There's nothing that ruins the day faster as sore feet---or worse, blisters!

On the way up, I spotted this eye doctor's office. So, you're telling me that when people are traveling from around the world they suddenly decide they need glasses? Why else would there be foreign eye charts?

When I got to the top, I ended up taking pictures for a lot of tourists. I always offer. Being a scrapbooker, I know how to take a good picture. 

We got back on another boat for the trip to Amalfi where we were driven to Ravello. Oh My Gosh---I think this is my favorite place yet. Not only is it beautiful, when you get in to the actual town, it really looks like an ancient town. 

 This is the view from our window. Our "escort" threw open the windows wide. The only thing that could be better was if there was a little balcony to sit on.

 View from our window going in the other direction.

After unpacking, we set out for lunch and "investigating" (a term I heard a couple of British women use after I snapped their photo).

 Our first stop was this lovely garden of San Francisco. All of the following pictures are taken from it.

Within the garden walls is the concert stage. We're going tomorrow night and had planned to find out where it is. I'm really excited about it---what a way to spend our last night in Ravello---a concert under the stars overlooking the sea.

I had to take this photo of this enormous green iridescent bug. I've never seen anything like it before. It's about an inch and a half long. It's a little blurry because I didn't want to get too close. I used the "up close" feature on my camera, but was in too big of a hurry to get away from it.

I'm not sure what we're going to do tonight, but Butch is about to go crazy without some tv---or more specifically, sports to watch! I have to admit, I'm missing my phone games with family and friends.

Tomorrow, we'll continue to explore Ravello.