Pro's Italy Excursion 2007 - Featuring "La Biondina"
June 9 - 24th.
Cities (in order) : Asiago, Venice, Marostica, Bassano di Grappa, Vicenza, Verona, Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Rome, Asiago, Sirmione- Lago di Garda
(this is just a sample of the pics and there are a lot of pics ...)
Arrived in Asiago
Off to Venice the next day ...
Next day, Bassano di Grappa - view from Ponte Vecchio
Then next day to Verona ...
Romeo & Juliet's Balcony
Verona shots ...
And their Roman Amphitheatre ...
Earlier that day we went to Vicenza for the "Palladio Morning"
First the Basilica
Then me and Sheila headed to Florence for 4 days ... here are the first day shots ....
Next day ... Palazzo Pitti & the Giardino Boboli
the grotto
the view from the high point
then to the best gellateria in Florence ....
then to Piazza Michelangelo for the Sunset
here's a new student residence at the university ...
Next day ... Siena ...
the campo ...
the basilica
the to San Gimignano ...
Next day ... off to some shopping at the Outlet Malls ... then off to Rome.
We arrived at Roma Termini ...
dropped off the bags at the hotel and started the tour ....
Went to St. Peters Basilica ...
that took a while ... then walked about the city
On the recommendation of Mike Rietta & Ralf Giannone, we went to Obika Mozzarella Bar
And it was awesome ... fresh Buffalo Mozzarella from outside Naples (brought in everyday), olive oil from Bari, great wine and cured meat from Calabria & outside Parma ...
and a great design too ...
my favourite Baroque Piazza ...
the Spanish Steps (piazza Espangna)
(base)
(view from top)
the Pantheon ...
The pantheon cupola ... and another favourite Baroque church ...
After a long day of travel from Florence and touring Rome .. we chilled in our 4 star "Richard Meier Executive Suite" at the Hotel Raphael (off of Piazza Navona)
... I stayed there before in 2005, and it was every bit as spectacular, perhaps more so...
We walked off to the Colosseum and Forum ... and you encounter ancient ruins at every turn in Rome ..
The urban
monument to Monument to
Vittorio Emanuele II
the Colosseum ...
We walked around the Colosseum, then through the Roman Forum...
Out of the Roman Forum, and off to the Campidoglio, one of the first public spaces I studied in 1st year ...
And back to Asiago, for a break ....
Then the next day back to Marostica ... here's the famed piazza where they play a game of 'human' chess ... on the piazza ... with doped up horses and everything ...
And we also made it to Lago di Garda, at Sirmione
And we chilled some more in Asiago before heading back to Canada ... here's a house I'm keeping an eye on in Asiago!
That was just a sample of the pictures I took ... over 5 gigabytes ... these are mostly the panoramas ...
This trip was very special ... unforgettable & I can't wait to go back!