*warning serious picture overload!!*
A few weeks ago Andy and I went to Italy sans kids! It was a whirlwind of a trip. We woke up at 3:00 am Friday morning to head to the airport. We landed in Bologna, Italy at about 10:00 am and headed to Venice in a rental car. This may sound silly, but it felt so good to get into the car on the correct side of the car ( that being the right side for the passenger) and to drive on the right side of the road again. The drive was really pretty. There were grape orchards and brightly colored old farm villas everywhere. The first day in Venice was kind of a blur. We were SO exhausted and had to force ourselves to keep going knowing that we only had 2 days there. Venice it quite amazing. I felt that there was SO much more to see then what the exterior facades portrayed, like the real story and beauty of Venice is inside all the hidden courtyards. I wanted to get a peek inside So bad. When you are walking around all the alleys, you can basically touch wall to wall and you are overshadowed by the tall buildings. It is one big confusing labyrinth. We got lost a few times but enjoyed the scenery!
My favorite thing about Italy was the language. I fell in love with it! I want to learn Italian. I also loved listening to them speak English. They add an "a" to the end of everything. For example, we asked for directions and the guy said "are you going by a-foot-a or by a-boat-a?" It made me giggle.
I thought this fruit stnad boat was so cute. We bought some grapes, and they were seriously amazing!
Shoe art in the middle of the water
We caught the very tail end of the fall leaves and they were beautiful!
Adorable outdoor cafes, just like in the movies. I kept thinking of lady and the tramp and singing "WHen the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie"!
This is the inside courtyard of the Doge Palace (it was the seat of the government for centuries). The building is quite amazing. The Doge commissioned famous artists to paint the walls and ceilings in all the rooms. It was amazing to me that many of the pieces of art were centered around Christ and that they believed the Doge was protected by Him. Christ was the center of their government. I wish this was still true. I don't think you would find many government buildings today covered in images of Christ.
On our Way to Venice we stopped in a little city called Monselice. It was up on a hill and this was the view from the top
On Saturday morning we didn't want to get out of bed. Lounging around sounded so enticing, but it was our last day. We had a little visitor help get us up and going. Nothing like a HUGE spider on your arm to make you scream like a girl and jump out of bed!! I'll let you decide who did the screaming and jumping like a girl ;)
In front of St. Mark's Basilica there are a ton of pigeons that will eat out of your hand
in front of the basilica
view from the car window on the way back to the airport. Sunset over a grape vineyard!
I have loads more pictures, but this will have to do for now. I haven't been the best at blogging, so I am proud that I got this much done!
