Northern Italy trip

We decided shortly before Christmas to do a trip over the break to fill up the 3 week break Travis had from school(kids here are on vacation a LOT!)  Ryan and I love Italy so we planned a driving trip through northern Italy- Verona, Venice, Modena, and Stresa.

Verona is the town if you recall your high school English where Romeo and Juliet is based. I was fascinated by the beautiful marble streets-we had seen this in Turin but there they were covered. At night with the lights from the shops reflecting off of the marble and the Christmas lights it was a magical atmosphere. We stayed just off the main shopping drag and it was packed from about 4:30 to 7 each night-this is called the "passeggiata"-the evening stroll.

 

Though Romeo and Julie were not real they were based on real families in Verona, and you can visit "Juliet's balcony." There is a statue of Juliet that if you rub her breast is supposed to bring you luck in love (her breast now has a hole in it!)

After Verona we made our way to Venice, one of my favorite European cities!  Venice is a difficult place to navigate because there are no cars on the island. We had to turn our car in keys and all to a parking garage with just a slip of paper to show that we had turned in a vehicle. Then we took a water bus to a stop close to the apartment where we were staying, where the owner then met us (1 hour late, typical Italy! :) He then took our luggage on his boat to our place. While our place was a bit sketchy it was a terrific location in central Venice and bringing the kids' scooters really helped with keeping them going through all the walking. 

Venice truly is "decaying elegance." The architecture is so beautiful but the buildings literally seem to be crumbling before your eyes. Makes you wonder how much longer Venice will be around..

 

I absolutely love Murano glass so it was terrific to take the boat over to Murano to see glass being made. I also picked up some jewelry and decore items for the house. I'm not a big shopper but Venice is one of those places where I can just look and look and look!

The kids had a lot of fun feeding the pigeons in San Marco Square..

We left Venice and headed for Modena-if the name sounds familiar you may have seen it on basalmic vinegar bottles.  The making of the vinegar is quite an art and there are a small number of families who have made it over the generations. We visited a family vintner's house and participated in a basalmic vinegar tasting-even Travis tasted it! The good stuff goes for about $150 for 1 oz-needless to say we didn't get the best stuff but we did bring something back for special occasions. It was a really unique experience!

In Modena we stayed at a farm that is part of the Italian Agriturismo movement. The bed and breakfast was a renovated farmhouse and in addition to growing wine and keeping donkeys, chickens, and cows the owner bottled their own jams and honeys which were delicious.


Ryan and Travis had a boys' trip to the Ferrari museum while we were there and had a great time.

We also visited Parma, home of parmesan cheese. We had delicious meals there as well as in Modena, this area of Italy is definitely a culinary epicenter. 

This is at a cathedral in Parma where the kids lit a candle for good health for their grandparents-I like the intense look on Travis's face in this photo.

Finally we headed to Stresa, which is on Lake Maggiore. We were there for just one night and the weather wasn't totally cooperative so we didn't do much but we had a fantastic dinner!



On the way home over the Alps naturally there was a snowstorm which made for some tense driving, but we eventually made it home. After our trip we are all pretty maxed out on pasta given how much we ate!!! Once we get over our pasta overload I plan to give the pasta maker that Ryan gave me a shot. :)