Venezia

Bonjourno! I know we've been back from Italy for a while now but it is always on the mind. Venice was especially beautiful. I had heard that countless times but you really can't appreciate the spectacle that the city is until you've seen it for yourself. It was once one of the richest cities in Europe and the Grand Canal ("main street") is lined with palaces. The architecture is somewhat unique in that not only is it built on water but most of it is from the Byzantine period and looks like a combination of European and Middle Eastern styles. As far as giving a true feel of what the city looked like, our pictures fail miserably. It doesn't help that in a lot of the places you go into in both Venice and Florence you are not allowed to take photographs. We think they're afraid we'll steal their essence!

We spent our time wandering semi-lost through the narrow streets finding on more than one occasion that the street we were on dead ended into a canal. We took a gondola ride and had to help our gondolier tilt the boat to make it under the low, slowly sinking bridges on the side streets. It was nearly Carnival so the stores were packed with masks and outfits for the 10 day long celebration. We found Venice to be a city that isn't visited for its sights and attractions but just for the city itself. I hope we get to go back! Ciao!

Back to reality

We have returned home and we're still trying to settle back into life after our surprise visit to the old AZ. It was such a good trip getting to see everyone and enjoy a few days of sunshine and warm weather. It is even more missed as I am writing during the first snow Dublin city has seen in the last 7 years (lucky us!). We are leaving for Italy in 2 days which means good food and good wine and hopefully better weather.
Thanks to everyone for making time to hang with us on absolutely no notice. Surprise visits probably aren't the best idea for the future but this one sure was fun. Happy birthday Yunuen! We hope to see all of you real soon!