After we went to Florence for our honeymoon in 1999, Terri and I made a habit of returning to Italy every year: Tuscany in 2000, Emilia-Romagna in 2001, The Marches in 2002, the Veneto in 2003. We skipped 2004 because that was the year I had to put Momma in the nursing home, but in 2005 we were back with a grand sweep from Rome through Umbria and Tuscany to Bologna and Venice. Then we got sidetracked by retirement and moving and trips to other places, although we made it back to Rome in 2008 and 2009.
(Six years may not sound like so long ago, but consider this: on that last long trip to Italy in 2005, I was still taking snaps with a film camera, we wandered down dark side streets looking for Internet cafés because we did not own a laptop, and my very first travel report was sent out after we returned home via a primitive communication technology called 'email.' Now I carry several digital cameras, we require WiFi for our MacBook and iPod, and I am a real-time location-services-savvy Facebooking blogger.)
It's time to go back. We leave in a couple of days, flying to Madrid then on to Venice. After several days in La Serenissima, we'll go to Vicenza, Ferrara, Ravenna, and finally Bologna, three weeks altogether. The Italians will be getting ready for Christmas, with roasted chestnuts on every corner and tortelli di zucca in every restaurant. Mostly we'll be eating and drinking, but we'll make time for some looking, too.
While you look at this snap from our last trip to Venice in November 2005, I'm going to start packing.
Next post and snaps from Il Bel Paese...
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