Vacations in 2010: Viva Italia - 25 September to 25 October

We left for Italy with some trepidation. We had heard about pick pockets, rudeness, aggressive drivers and there was the language barrier. In France at least we knew when people were being rude to us. We had a fabulous time visiting Venice for a week, Tuscany for 2 weeks, Florence for five nights and Rome for four nights. Even today I heard Marielle say that she wouldn't hesitate a minute in going back. I am building a Viva Italia blog at : http://www.vivaitalia2010.blogspot.com/ which will eventual give you all the information you wanted to know and probably didn't want to know about our trip. Consequently this blog only has a taste to whet your appetite. We were wrong! Italians in general are outgoing, pen, confident and friendly and the cities and countryside are magnificent.

Many people said I was making a mistake staying seven days in Venice. After Piazza San Marco and the basilica what was there left to do. Well we didn't have enough of a week. Venice is the most amazing and different city in the world. Nowhere else do you get to see so many historic buildings, museums, churches in a tiny space where water taxis are the norm for getting around. The silence was the first thing I noticed (except when the local school got out) as there is no traffic. The second thing is the luminosity of the combination of sun, water and sky.

I had heard a lot about Tuscany and even though I had an idea what to expect, much of the countryside still took my breath away. A land of hills, some desert like, some green, covered in vines, perched villages, natural spas, and a people proud of their territory. Florence is Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and the Renaissance. Marielle particularly liked the naked men (statues). Rome is a history of the human race from before Jesus Christ to post Renaissance, all on display and evoking all your senses. I particularly liked the fountains.