At the airport

Two flights down and one to go. We have a three hour layover in JFK and have taken advantage of the new Admirals Club. It's nice, but in my snotty opinion, the Iberia lounge in Madrid is still farLes mer
Cold, sunny, and Christmas-y

I guess American Airlines figures that when they are taking you to Italy, they can serve you the worst food imaginable and it won't dampen your spirits. I've had a lot of bad meals on a plane, butLes mer
Museums and Palaces

Today was quite a wonderful day. Weather was cold but sunny and we did a lot of walking. One gorgeous art museum, one 15th century castle and a lot of detours down pretty residential streets made forLes mer
Mostly churches and one more art museum

Another chilly, ok cold, day. But sunny all day till the sun set. I won’t bore you with the details of the 4th century San Lorenzo and the Romanesque Sant Ambrogio churches, but one had 16 romanLes mer
Great dinner

Just to say that Il Tavolino was our favorite restaurant in Milan. Although it seemed that all the English speaking customers got put off in the same room (coincidence maybe?) we had a deliciousLes mer
Arrived in Bologna

Took a fast train to Bologna and we were checked into out apartment by 2. We spent the afternoon getting our bearings and doing some grocery shopping — not that we plan to cook much! What aLes mer
Mosaics everywhere in Ravenna

About an hour by train from Bologna, Ravenna has more churches in its historic core than I think I have ever seen. We concentrated on the early Christian ones (4th- 6th centuries) though there wereLes mer
Day in Bologna

Today was another beautiful day in Bologna. We climbed the 498 stairs to the top of the tallest of the Two Towers, with gorgeous views below. We then went to the Medieval Museum that had some amazingLes mer
Day trip to Ferrara

Another nice sunny day with temps getting above freezing, hooray! We took a morning train to Ferrara, where the main attractions are the 14th century castle, a medieval quarter-Jewish ghetto, and aLes mer
Christmas Day in Bologna

Our day can be summed up in three words -- walking, eating, and churches. We had a reservation in a fancy place (the menu had been vetted by our foodie friends Tina and John and they told us to go forLes mer
Day trip to Parma

Today as we walked to the Bologna Train Station, it was misty and chilly. Same when we got off the train in Parma. No sun today, but hardly any precipitation either, so we are not complaining.Les mer
Last full day in Bologna

This morning we started in the Resistance Museum, a pretty somber place dealing with Italian fascism and WWII. Lots of information and pictures, with even an interesting room about ItalianLes mer
Modena Museum Moratorium

We decided to have a low key strolling the streets kind of day, which we stuck to even though there were showers off and on, and the pull of the art museum with its Velazquez painting was tempting.Les mer
Arrived in Venice

We arrived around noon on the train from Bologna and decided to take the vaporetto to our hotel instead of trying to navigate all those bridges and stone streets with the carry-ons. I think anyone whoLes mer
San Marco

Our first full day in Venice, we decided to bite the bullet and shell out the 120 euros for a vaporetto pass for the two of us. This way we can hop on and off whenever we make our way to the GrandLes mer
Happy New Year from Venice!!

Today was absolutely my favorite kind of tourist day. The sun was shining in the morning and the vaporetto was not at all crowded, so we had a Grand Canal ride with great weather and great views. ThenLes mer
Rain on New Year's Day

Despite our best efforts, Joe has come down with a little cold. He decided to go back to bed after breakfast, giving me two hours to walk around our neighborhood and get a little exercise. I made itLes mer
Island hopping, Venetian style

I think we got our 120 euros worth on the vaporetto today alone! From 9 till 5 (for Joe) and almost 7 (for me) we were hopping on and off. We visited three outlying islands and saw two drop deadLes mer
Last vaporetto rides on the Grand Canal

For our last day, we decided to visit a couple of museums and churches in different parts of town. That means we spent our last day doing pretty much what we have done on the other days -- riding onLes mer