Italy

Joseph and I had the opportunity to go to Italy for a week.  Joseph needed to work in the office in Milan and I was invited by the company to attend the annual Christmas party.  We took the occasion to travel on the weekend to Venice and Verona.  It was cold, cold, cold, about 30 degrees at the warmest part of the day.  But after having experienced only summers for the last 6 years, it was a nice and refreshing experience to see snow, have a runny nose and numb legs, cold appendages, Christmas lights, and really enjoy hot chocolate with pastries.  This was my 3rd trip to Italy.  I have visited all three times in the winter and next time I vow will be the Spring or Summer.  Italy is a place that is never tiring though. 

The gondolas parked for the winter right off San Marco.  

 We enjoyed exploring the side streets and canals.  One nice thing about visiting Venice in the winter is that it is very quiet.  The quaint streets were only dotted with a few tourists here and there and mostly local Venetians.

View of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge.  It was foggy and drizzling the whole time we were there.

After spending two days in Venice, we left on Sunday morning to attend church services in Verona and spend a night there.  I have never been to Verona and I fell in love with it.  It is the home of the fabled Romeo and Juliet, but also a city rich in history as a port in the Roman empire.  Here is Joseph in front of the Castello, complete with drawbridge and a moat.

Me inside the Castello on a bridge covering the moat.

A rare picture of Joseph outside the Castello... he had the camera and I the map for the most part.

A statue that dates back to the Romans In the main piazza.  The frescos on the side building are also original.  It was all just so incredibly charming.

The Colosseum in Verona.

 View on the bridge that links the two sides of "old Verona."  On this side, there are the ruins of a Roman theater and an old Monastery at the top of the hill.

 Me pictured inside the cloister of the Monastery.

This is a poor picture for two reasons: one, it is my iphone so the resolution isn't too great; two, the man taking it had never used an iphone before.  Joseph and I went to a formal company dinner with 8 courses at a beautiful hotel in Milan--The Four Seasons.  It was an old convent that dated back to the 18th c. and converted to a hotel .  It was a beautiful hotel with cloisters and amazing landscaping in the courtyard.  It was decorated beautifully for Christmas.  The whole reason for me coming to Italy was to attend this dinner.  We were the only Americans and shocked the Italians with our number of children and the fact that we drink no wine.