ITALY April/May 2014
I was just looking over my blog and realized that I never even wrote about our Italy trip last spring! Lame. I hope I can remember a few things as I go through the pictures. I took notes on my iPad most evenings after we returned to the house we stayed in, but alas, my iPad was accidentally left behind at JFK airport on the way home and never recovered. (Note to Greg: I've forgiven you because you bought me a new one for Christmas. However, it did not have my Italy notes on it.)
It's actually kinda nice when a spouse does something big like lose his wife's iPad because then the wife has leverage whenever she does something stupid. "Remember that time you left my iPad at JFK? Well, guess what I did today." So I didn't really need to forgive him because I didn't really get mad at him.
Ok, that was a lengthy side note. Here we go with some pictures.
Fred & Nicea invited us and this is the little car we rented after flying into Milan.
Fred loved this car. Fred also speaks Italian so we had nothing to worry about,
language or driving wise, except that the back seat was a little cramped.
We drove on this little tree-lined road to get to the house we rented from Fred's colleague.
The view from the front yard of the house (behind these two sisters).
Front of house with Nicea in the doorway.
Better view from the house. Greg and I walked down from the house
to the village (Touro, I think) and the next few pictures are from our walk.
Why, yes! I am very happy to be in Italy. Thank you for asking.
The neighbor's dog liked to terrorize us as we walked or drove past.
No bites, however.
Oh my. The colors.
Lots of narrow streets, which I love.
Eating was always fun. A little cafe here, a little cafe there.
Great pizza and pasta, of course.
old blue doors
The piazza at Siena all lit up at night. Amazing!
A wee bit chilly this evening.
This purple tree growing right in the middle of the buildings.
I don't know these guys.
I think Cortona was the first place we went, then Siena. Everywhere we went
was so incredible. Just wish I still had my notes!
We all bought sweatshirts in Siena because the weather
turned rainy and cold on us and we weren't prepared.
The piazza during the day.
I loved the windows in this restaurant.
And the old brick wall. And my sister.
The artwork in the museums and the churches was incredible.
We saw some really famous artwork but since it's not really
my thing to be up on that sort of stuff, I deferred to Fred and
have no labels for any of these pictures. My favorite things to
see are the surroundings, the landscape, the views, the colors.
That's the stuff I love. But these buildings and the architecture
and the artwork were all amazing too, especially when I think
about how old everything is and how they did all this back then.
Fred would probably shake his head in disgust that I can't
remember the names of all the famous paintings we saw. Sorry Fred.
Perugia was another city we visited.
I didn't have enough exclamations in my vocal chords to do justice to the scenery,
so I just snapped about a million pictures.
A pigeon shot.
A monk shot.
A rooftop shot.
A ceiling shot.
A window shot.
A Nicea shot.
These buildings with all of their paintings were simply incredible.
Fred served in Ravenna on his mission. This
city is famous for it's mosaics. Wow!
A police shot.
A bread shot.
Another mosaic. Incredible.
A nap shot.
Some pics were taken from our moving vehicle. FYI
A laundry shot.
Above and below are the same place in Assisi.
I'm sure Fred could tell you why that other guy has a wreath on his head.
I'm sure I can tell you why this guy has a Y on his head.
An antique store shot.
A graffiti shot.
A window box shot.
Always room for a good fence shot.
Apparently these two don't take Excedrin.
Pottery in the house we stayed in.
Of course we ate here. SegaFREDO! Duh.
I love it when flowers grow on roofs.
Above: in the town near where we stayed.
And then there was Florence. Oh my.
It's so gorgeous it looks fake! But it's not.
We didn't get to tour the dome because it was closed when we were there. Next time.
I don't think I was supposed to take a picture
but sometimes I am a wee bit disobedient. The David.
Cover your eyes if you don't like.......you know.
The night before we left--Milan. "Last year when I was in Milan...," she said.
A gelato flavor shot.
An incredible shopping center in Milan.
Prada and Greg. NOT two peas in a pod.
We could see the Alps from our hotel window. Well, someone told me they were the Alps.
And we flew near them when we left.
That would be nice.
