And so it has become our last full day in Italy. We’ve visited the grand waterways of Venice, the art filled streets of Florence, the Medieval hill towns of Siena and Assissi, the urban center of Caesars Rome, and found the lost city of Pompei.

Along our journey we discovered St. Benedict’s magnificent city of Cassino, and while enjoying a waterfront drive along the Mediterranean, discovered the beautiful towns of Gaeta and Santa Marinella.

During this last day we stopped briefly in Pisa to see if its bell tower had fallen yet. It had not.

But, the journey ends. We arrive, late in the evening, to the massive Milan Malpensa Airport to turn in our faithful rental car and to shuttle to our last hotel, never (never say never) to navigate Italy’s perplexing roadways again. We’ll miss ‘la gente e la terra’ (the people and the land). We’ll miss ‘il vento e la pasta’ (the wine and pasta) –but our beds are better.