A First Report on Italy

We arrived home last evening after two wonderful weeks in Italy. There are many stories to tell, and I think each may be best told with its separate blog entry. So for now, here are just a few shots to prove we were really there.

We spent our first five days staying with friends David and Donna Curry who are renting an apartment in Florence. Here is a view from their balcony looking northeast along the Arno river. Florence, generally viewed as the home of the Renaissance, is filled with fascinating architecture, art, and history. We also did a side trip to Lucca. Will tell you more about these cities later.


While we were there, David and Donna celebrated their wedding anniversary. We were pleased to be able to celebrate with them, since this provided one more of many opportunities to enjoy the excellent food and wine that Italy has to offer. Guess this view finds us guilty of dessert.


Our next stop was Venice. (Train travel in Italy is a great way to get around, by the way.) It is difficult to describe how truly amazing Venice is. Whatever images you may have of the city, from movies or pictures or whatever, cannot fully prepare you for the experience. Here is Kathie on the Rialto Bridge looking down the Grand Canal.


Our last four days were spent in Rome. From the roof of the hotel, we had some great skyline views. Directly behind us in the shot below would be St. Peter's basillica, which the other tourists who were kind enough to take this shot forgot to get into the picture. The dome you see is of a different church. A separate shot of St. Peter's and its square follow.



No visit to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Colloseum, which you can see below. All around Rome one finds ruins of structures dating back to the Roman empire.


We can bore you to tears (and will) with more of our ~300 photographs. But this should be enough for now to convince you we were really there. (Unless you believe in faked moon landings and such.) We learned and saw so much and were very fortunate to be able to do this trip. Still, it is always good to be home. This final shot was one I could not resist taking just seconds before we dipped below the clouds on our approach to ORD in Chicago.