We're Baaaack!

Dave and I are back from our fabulous trip to Italy. It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary and to take a break from our 'real' life.

We started out in Verona to visit my cousin Alessia. Her mother Rosa, boyfriend Marco, and Alessia were the ultimate hosts. They cooked us delicious, traditional, Italian meals. We always started with antipasti that consisted of prosciutto, parmesan and romano cheese, olives, bread and salami that Marco's father had made, paired with wonderful, light, sparkling, white wine. Next would be a homemade soup or pasta. Then of course, we would move to Rosa's living room for limoncello. Here is a picture of Dave, Alessia, Marco and Rosa in the kitchen:


Alessia and Marco took us around the city center of Verona on Saturday. Most people know Verona from Romeo and Juliet, and there is a statue to commemorate her. We visited the castle of the della Scala family and the arena. Verona has a few delightful walking streets that you can easily stroll to get a feeling of the city. We dined outside on some appetizers and our new favorite drink, the aperol spritz, at Piazza Erbe. On Sunday, we took a trip to Bardolino which is on Lake Garda. It was a great little lakeside town. I can only imagine how beautiful and lively it is in the summer months. We strolled the streets and had lunch at a pizzeria.

Then it was on to Venice. Though we were only in Venezia for 24hrs, we definitely felt the magic of that city. St Mark's is one of the most beautiful churches in the world. Here is a picture of us from the terrace on top of the church:

We then toured the Palazzo Ducale. We then took the vaporetto (water bus) to a point far from our hotel and just wandered our way back. Venice is such an amazing city to just get lost in and see what you stumble upon.

After Venice, we headed to Florence. We realized the benefit of November travel when we were able to walk right up to Michelangelo's The David and the Uffizi Gallery with no lines. The David truly is amazing and leaves you in awe. The Duomo, which can be seen in the picture below is truly magnificent:


We also saw San Lorenzo and the market there and Santa Croce and the leather factories. We did most of our shopping in Florence. If you're on our Christmas or Hanukkah list, there's a good chance your gift came from Florence!

After Florence, we headed back to Verona. We so enjoyed our time with all of them. It was nice to just BE together.
Here is a picture of me and Alessia in her apartment:



After we had our teary goodbye from Verona we headed to Milan. We spent the afternoon and evening walking around. The city was very alive on a Saturday evening. We went inside La Scala opera house and as luck would have it they were practicing for their production of Don Carlo. So, we got to see opera performed at La Scala!

We loved our trip...we loved drinking espresso 3-4 times a day...we loved the food (pasta, antipasti, pastries, olive oil, eggplant, black cabbage, anchovies, steak, pizza, fish, etc)...we loved the beautiful, sacred, churches...we loved strolling the walking streets...we loved the centuries old art...we loved aperol spritz....we loved the fine wine at a cheap price...we loved spending time with family...and we loved being together in this unique country.