So I recently got back from Italy, and I have photos ...

[fishwax]

Here's an old stadium we saw in Rome ...


This is on Palatine Hill, the centermost of Rome's Seven Hills ...


The Swiss Guard outside St. Peter's Basilica ...


The Field of Miracles in Pisa (we had a picnic right by the leaning tower--the grass on that field is incredibly comfortable) ...


The Cinque Terre town of Vernazza (the picture of this doesn't even do it justice) ...


The sunset (actually two different sunsets) in Florence. The first picture is taken from Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge across the Arno. (This bridge is visible in the third picture.) The other two are taken from Piazza Michelangelo, on a hill SE of the old city center ...




Twilight on the Grand Canal in Venice


A statue of the first woman who ever received a college degree (from the University of Padua). The statue is at the Piazza del Bo, the original seat of the University, which is the 2nd oldest in Italy and the 4th oldest in Europe. Galileo and Copernicus, among other legends, were on the faculty there. (They still have Galileo's lectern, but it's in a room where they don't allow pictures.)


An alleyway in Assisi ...


A message of peace on the lawn of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi ...


I have hundreds of other pictures, but have tried to exercise some restraint in posting them :)

Italy was amazing, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the pictures :D

[miss_american_pie]

1. Beautiful pictures

Thank you for sharing them.

[fishwax]

11. glad you liked them :) n/t

[kiraboo]

2. Wow, thank you for posting those. Well done.

Isn't Italy wonderful? I was only there once, for a week on my honeymoon. I had only one bad experience the whole time and it was my own fault for drinking water out of the hotel faucet when I was very dry after a bottle and a half of wine. Spent the next several days on the toilet... but by the time it got really bad I was in Munich :)

I'd love to go back. Probably never will though.

[fishwax]

12. it really is wonderful (one more pic)

Sounds like a great honeymoon :toast: (stomach issues notwithstanding)

when I was very dry after a bottle and a half of wine

Oh, man, the wine :7 (I brought home as much as I could carry :))

In Venice we found a couple of these shops where they had 15-20 vats of house wine, and for a euro or two they would fill a 1.5 litre water bottle straight from the vat ...

[kiraboo]

24. The honeymoon was Corfu, Brindisi & Venice, Munich & St. Goar

and then Paris. The Italian stretch was the only part where my soon-to-be-ex and I didn't fight continually. And that might have something to do with the fantastic food and drink!

[fishwax]

26. d'oh!

pardon me while I take my foot out of my mouth :blush:

:)

[kiraboo]

27. No problem.

Life swims on...

[atomic-fly]

3. Nice...I need to go there.

[fishwax]

13. it's definitely worth the trip

something we'd been wanting to do for years--hard to believe we finally got the chance :thumbsup:

[mdmc]

4. thanks for the pics

I enjoyed viewing them

[fishwax]

14. happy to share :) n/t

[radwriter0555]

5. There is no place more lovely than italia... We're going to venice for

a few days in july... yayayay.. it's heaven. So glad you got to see the jewels.

[fishwax]

15. It rained most of the time I was in Venice

which was, on the one hand, a little disapointing, but on the other hand wasn't too bad because it was a light rain, which in Venice seemed atmospheric (whereas in, say, Rome, a full day of even light rain would have felt like a disaster ...). Venice was great, though--we spent most of our time there just wandering the back streets, far away from the heavy crowds. Stayed an extra night in Venice, too, because we didn't arrive until early evening and we were enjoying it so much, even with the showers.

We didn't get to Lucca (I think you were the one who recommended that in one of my threads before I left), but I hope to next time around.

Enjoy Venice. :hi:

[radwriter0555]

32. Oh we will, we're going to stay out on Lido. We're going to stop in Milan

on the way over and see "the last supper" as well... I think that will be REALLY cool, and possibly Padua to see a goldsmith and Verona for Juliet's balcony,

[Haole Girl]

6. Thank you so much for posting these!

I've wanted to go to Italy for the longest time...*sign*...someday....

Now I have even more places on my to do list!

Thanks again! They are gorgeous pics!!

[fishwax]

18. You bet

glad you enjoyed them. :) And it really is a great place. We'd been wanting to go for years as well, and now we can't wait to go back :)

[riona]

7. You have some really nice

photos. Nice composition and color.

[fishwax]

19. Thanks!

Of course, the subject helps ... especially with the Piazza Michelangelo in Florence--pretty hard to take a bad picture from up there :)

[progmom]

8. BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks for sharing. How many days were you there for?

I am so jealous. I am dying to go back.

[fishwax]

20. Just short of two weeks

We arrived early Sunday afternoon and flew out the Second Friday after, so I guess about 12 days. And we're already dying to go back too :)

Where all did you go?

[progmom]

36. Rome, Florence and Venice

I would love to hit the Cinque Terre next time.

[quiet.american]

9. Stunning! Thanks for posting. Made for a great time-out. n/t

[LSK]

10. simply amazing!!!

Do you have a site for your other pictures?

[fishwax]

21. not yet

I hope to eventually, and I might post some more as I sort through them :) Glad you liked them.

[ceile]

16. Wow!

They're beautiful!

[tigereye]

17. beautiful!

but where are the pictures of wonderful Italian food? :D

[fishwax]

22. well, since you asked :)

Here's some gnocchi with shrimp and some spinach ravioli. Both were delicious :D

[tigereye]

23. oooh

yum. I envy you eating all that good ravioli in Italy.

[Kerrytravelers]

25. Oh... my nasty-ass bigoted, racist former sister-in-law is there.

You could have kicked her hard for me and Mr kt.

[u4ic]

28. Beautiful shots!

What a vacation!

Thanks for sharing. :-)

[devilgrrl]

29. Bravo!

Great pictures, thank you for sharing them! :7

[Shine]

30. Gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing.

I've heard amazing things about Cinque Terra, in particular. What a great trip that must've been. :hi:

[freethought]

31. Were you the person who posted threads looking for advice

about a trip to Italy? Timing seems about right. I made post with some info on pickpockets, where to go, walking distances, when people eat dinner, where to get good gelato and the like. Did we give you some good advice?
The photos are like, WOW! Boy oh boy!! I wish I had seen more when I was there. Sigh!

What about some lambrusco? Did you get any lambrusco? Dammit! Tell me you had some lambrusco!!

You have an eye for some good pictures! Some of the sunset shots are spectacular! And the picture of the Grand Canal in Venice catches the mood and character of the place perfectly!
Glad you enjoyed it! That's an experience that you won't easily forget.

[fishwax]

34. I do remember your post in my thread, and

thanks for your helpful info. We were traveling with another couple, and I made all of them pass up or leave any gelateria where the pistachio wasn't gray/green or the bananna (another telltale flavor I picked up from somewhere else) wasn't gray/off-white. It was worth it, because we had a lot of really good gelato. The other couple hadn't heard anything about how to discern the good from the imitation, so I'm sure they appreciated your advice as well :)

We only had one so-so gelato experience, and that was from a trailer at the piazza michelangelo ... the pistachio was bright green, so I expected it not to be the best, but there was no other gelato stand in sight and we'd had a bit of a hike, so we got a very small cup to tide us over until we could get back into the heart of florence for some of the real good stuff.

Alas, I didn't try the lumbrusco. I remembered that bit of advice while in a wine shop in Assisi, but I had in mind to get a bottle of Sagrantino there, since that's a regional specialty (I'd heard--I really don't know much about wine). Anyway, I and my party all favored white wine, so that wound up being the only bottle of red I brought back. I'll have to try the lambrusco another time :( (hey, just another reason to go back :))

Anyway, thanks again for your input before my trip, and I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures :hi:

[Vidar]

33. 26 years since I was there. Still lovely. Thank you.

[nutsnberries]

35. thanks for posting them.

i enjoyed your beautiful pics and i'm glad to hear you had a good time. :hi: