Thursday, April 10, 2014

I is for Italy

All this month I am participating in the A to Z Challenge.  Today's letter is...
I for Italy

In April of last year my daughter was working in Italy for several weeks.  I joined her in Milan to take advantage of her company-paid hotel room.  I was in Italy for less than an hour when all my money and credit cards were stolen by a pickpocket.  If I had been on my own, I would have been in real trouble.  Fortunately my daughter saved the day by loaning me money and a credit card.  It was my first visit to Italy and I wasn't about to have losing all my money get in the way of having a good time!

During the week while my daughter was working,  I explored Milan.  I saw DaVinci's Last Supper, toured La Scala, touched the Rondanini Pieta that Michaelangelo was working on at the time of his death, and rummaged through the street markets.  






An amazing selection of random stuff at a street market in Milan


Beautiful fresh vegetables at the street market

On the weekends we left the city.  We took the train to Lake Como and rode the ferry to the small villages along the lake.  We didn't see George Clooney.

But, my favorite part of the trip was Venice.  It's filled with tourists and lots of tacky tourist crap, but it is an amazing place.  It looks exactly like every picture that you have ever seen of Venice, yet, when you are there,  it is hard to believe that such a place exists.  
A random canal in Venice

It rained while we were in Venice, but that didn't put a damper on our activities.
A gondola floated by and all the passengers had umbrellas.
We took a water taxi out to the island of Murano to see the glass factories.

Sarah and a glass sculpture on Murano
I'd like to take the spouse to Italy and on that visit I will try and avoid the pickpockets!







9 comments:

  1. That was a terrible start, but looks and sounds like you had a great trip!

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  2. I actually recognised the boatyard in the "random canal" pic! Glad you enjoyed you time in Italy.

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  3. What a wonderful treat to tour Italy with your daughter. That is so sad though that you started out your trip in such a bad way.

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  4. My sister went to Italy a couple of years ago and lost her purse, too. First day. Those pickpockets must make a fair amount of money from this activity. So glad it didn't dampen your spirits! :-)

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  5. I would have freaked out! Good it did not spoil your trip, it probably would have ruined it for me.

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  6. Hi Jann! Italy is perfect for "I"! What a trip that was, on so many levels!
    Thanks for commenting on my random blog earlier this week. As is typical, I've been working way harder than I do at work . . . but it feels good to look around and see some order. (knowing it will be short-lived somehow isn't dampening my spirits to sort, organize and clean!)
    Maybe I'll even find time to read a few blogs and catch up a bit . . . maybe!

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  7. Our trip to Italy was memorable. We visited the town where my grandparents were born. We also met a cousin who still lives there. I love your photos. They make me want to go back.

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  8. Isn't Italy fabulous! I went there a couple of years ago, and am planning to go back. I think about it every day...

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  9. That was a terrible start, but you still made the most of your visit. Thanks for the photos...

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