PHOTOS are here! How to view our personal photo's from the trip!!!

Hi everyone. Anne and I decided to share the photo's with you via shutterfly so your computers won't be bogged down by large files attached to emails. This is simple. You don't need a shutterfly account to enjoy the pictures. Simply look to the column on the right side of our page and find the link for our personal photo's. Click on that link. When you do, your computer will redirect you to shutterfly and you will see three different photo albums. They are labelled by city, Rome, Florence and Venice. Simply click on the name of the city, then the album will appear. In gray area surrounding the pictures you will see "collections, photos and slide show." Click on slideshow and the photos will start rolling. If you wish to stop and look at something or back up to a photo you want to see in greater detail, just use the commands for these actions. When you are ready to resume the slideshow, push the play button again. When you get to the end of the slideshow, click on the "collections" prompt and it will take you back to the albums page where you can choose a different city's album to view.

Home again- Pictures coming soon!

We are back safe,sound and really exhausted. It will take us a while to unpack in every way, physically, mentally and emotionally. We loved our trip, every second of it, and we are very, very, glad to be home. Thanks for coming along with us and watch for the pictures. Please check back in a couple weeks, we should have them up by then.
Looking forward to seeing all your faces soon,
Anne

Arrivederci Italia!

Wow. Has it been 2 weeks? In some ways it flew by and in some ways it seems like much longer. Either way we leave for home tomorrow. We are ready but still, we ache a little to be leaving.
The weather was too kind to us on our last day. It was perfect. It still is this evening, soft light, a gentle breeze, a sweet kiss good bye.
We enjoyed the Accademie today, not so much because we saw so much that was different from what we have been seeing, but because we were able to get close to it. They allow you to walk right up onto the work in most cases and we were able to really look closely at frescos from the 14th century. As you can imagine, they are as amazing up close than they they are from a distance. The museum spans the rennaissance with a little extra on each end. It focuses exculsively on Italian painting. Very worth the trip if you are in Venice.
I feel full of art and beauty. Tonight when we went back to our sweet hotel room we turned on the news, CNN, (something we haven't done since we've been here,) just in time to catch the latest on the assination in Lebanon. Is there a world out there? Yes, yes, there is and we are returning to it. Not everything is art and beauty, although one can forget that here. Venice especially. It reminds me of a lullaby. I think the constant rhythm of the canal aids in that, but also the light, and the ancient, ancient surroundings which remain the same throughout the centuries. I find it easy to be lulled. It's not all bad but I am ready to get back to my life.
So I will see you there! The next we speak will be from home.
Caio!
Anne

Vetrulio Bondi- water guy in Florence

Of all of the people we have met, and we have met a few, Vetrulio who owns the store on the corner near our hotel in Florence is one of the few we have talked to in depth. He first got our attention for being an average Joe, about middle aged with an adoring wife and obviously hard working store owner in which we were faithfully buying our water every morning and evening. He welcomed us each time by announcing we were his best water customers. When we chose to eat dinner there, he sat with us a bit and talked with us a lot. The conversation turned serious and we rather enjoyed what he had to say. He is first and foremost concerned about the young girls of our country that come here to visit from college. There are many of these girls in Florence and many walk past his store in a days time. He quickly notes that they are all clones of "Paris Hilton" and the like and work very hard to show way too much of themselves and are very plastic. He said Beauty was a state of mind in Florence and that it should come from inside and then be present on our exterriors. He was worried that they come to Florence, or Italy in general, and simply buy the designer goods but bipass learning anything about the culture for spending all of their time and money in the markets to return with "things" when they are done here. He feels sad that he sees them coming to Florence and consuming tons of alchohol to the point of being drunk constantly. He has a hard time understanding this because alchohol is considered and consumed differently in their country, perhaps something we could learn from them. They appreciate fine wines and enjoy them slowly with a nice meal, rather than worry with quantity. Thank goodness he also was concerned that we are a lot like Jerry Springer back home in that he has this as a point of reference. We were certainly able to put his mind at ease and assure him that it was a fabricated show for entertainment and that the masses understand that it is trash and don't watch it. He also seemed at ease that if Anne and I were once these 20 year olds that he is worried about, then there is hope if they turn out like us. Thanks for the compliment. He was sweet and smart and adores his wife. He treated us like we were in his home, not his trattoria. He embodies something that most Americans just don't posses because having this approach doesn't earn money...or so we think. I know that Anne and I stayed a bit longer and had a dessert to extend our conversation with him. His charm earned him at least another $20. Later we went back out to get a sandwich for the desk help at our hotel in thanks for their kindness. Naturally, we walked back to Vetrulio's. He suggested that instead we walk across the alley to order a pizza from his restaurant. We had no idea that Nerone's was his restaurant too. We ate there twice because it was so delicious. It didn't surprise either of us that this smart man had already assumed the American dream right here in Florence. We thoroughly enjoyed his food but moreso his company and hope that if any of you make it to Florence that you will visit Vetrulio at the corner of Faenza and Nationale for a water and large helping of Italian charm. (Lisa)

We are from Denver, Tx

So last night Anne and I have a great dinner in our own hood just right across from our hotel. The food was the best we have had so far. Anne had monkfish in some sort of sauce and I had a risotto with shrimp and mushrooms and we shared a plate of grilled vegetables. The owner was charming and struck up some conversation with us which made us think we should blog about being from TX and what that means to Italians. When we said we were from Tx the owner quickly proclaims "Sì, Sì Denver, Tx!" We set him straight but he takes the number one slot on the list.

1. We are from Denver, Tx.
2. We all have oil wells.
3. Due to the numerous oil wells our gas is only 2cents a gallon. (don't we wish)
4. We all have cows and Patrick and Cliff are without a doubt cowboys.
5. We have ample access to slot machines.
6. NASA and the space program play a huge role in our day to day lives.
7. We all have money.
8. And of course, we get the "ah...Bush!" in which we cringe and wait to see if they are going to praise him or spit in our food. I think most have been polite if nothing else. The front page of their newspapers, every day, has a picture of Bush and bold print with many exclamation marks. The photo's are never flattering so conclude what you wish. (Lisa)

Take it's or Leave it's, potpourri of misc facts

1. Sitting and consuming any food or liquids in Italy is a luxury that will cost you at the minimum 1.50€ every time you do it and in most cases will also double the price of your food and drink. Your other option is to "take away" and find a spot to sit to eat and drink yourself, without service, or to stand at their bar and drink/eat. Save sitting for when you just can't stand any longer.

2. The men here are able to pull of orange, yellow and sometimes bright green pants with the complimentary color shirt and sweater draped around their necks and still manage to look smashingly handsome. We are trying to imagine this on Patrick or Cliff and we just keep getting visions of their broken noses and black eyes for trying this out at home.

3. The eye glasses here are a work of art in and of themselves. We couldn't be more boring in this dept after seeing what the folks here are wearing.

4. Bathrooms...this really deserves its own blog but at risk of seeming terribly tacky, I snuck it into this list. The bathrooms in Italy are well hidden, usually disgusting when you do find them, very seldom have a toilet seat attached and sometimes cost you money. My favorite is the co-ed variety where men and women are coming and going from the same bathroom. And without a doubt, levetating is key to not walking away with more than one persons DNA on your body once you are through. The rare and random exceptions to this matter are museum and hotel restrooms. Anywhere else and all bets are off.

5. The men: Venetian's are shorter per capita than in Florence and Rome. Rome wins the percentage of handsome men award in that they are a solid 8 in 10 being complete Gods. Florence drops to a dissapointing 6 out of 10 but they had a larger community of accessible average Italians that made up for looks with charm. Venice picks up the pace with about 7 in 10 being gorgeous but the other 3 are likely to be filthy rich so in those cases we will overlook genetics and factor in the wallet.

6. Venice is trapped in another decade...perhaps the 50's or even earlier. The people dress differently, move about differently, etc. While it is like no other place on earth, it does feel very confined/isolated physically and in mentality.

7. Water from the tap is free and tastes great. In comparison, bottled water (Naturale or with gas) is about 1.50€ a pop.

8. The canal water in Venice is a creepy shade of green that looks like faux water used at water parks for the bamboo shoot rides.

9. Did we mention the maps? How bout the phones? They are both useless. Draw your own map and bring a big dixie cup with a long string connected to your house and you are likely to have more luck.

10. As advanced as the Europeans are, for some reason they only get up to the 80's in our music and television. We got into more than one cab with Journey, Aerosmith or Motley Crue. Funny to see the "Mario's" getting their jam on to "Don't stop believing".

11. Italy is as romantic and beautiful as you think it is, times two. Couples really do sit around absorbed only in each other and are wildly affectionate in public.

12. not all Murano glass is beautiful. See the octopus light that was in our room in Venice. It was a little scary to wake up that overhead each morning.

(Lisa)

The Biennale. . .Si! si.si!

Anne here-
By far the most fun we had at the Biennale yesterday was watching Los Torreznos at the Spanish pavillion performing "Electorial Night" as part of "Paridise Broken" ( only in Spanish.) The last bit of the 35 minute video performance was the two artists weighing in on other artists. "Pablo Picasso. . . non! non.non. Los Torreznos. . Si! si. si. Jasper Johns. . .Non! The whole thing is hysterical, as is the rest of what we saw of them. You can find clips on the web, and we recommend you do. Los Torreznos (Rafael Lamata and Jamie Vallaure) deal with repetition, sound and meaning, how one effects the other, or so it seems to us. They are also very, very funny.
In the Italian pavillion, which serves as the international pavillion we saw works by Louise Bourgeois, Rainer Ganhal,Jenny Holzer, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol Dewitt, Elizabeth Murray, Bruce Nauman, Gerhard Richter, Susan Rothenberg, and many others, each given their own room in the pavillion, a lovely expansive space in which to view the work. We took out from there and wandered without a game plan, we managed to land in the British pavillion which featured Tracey Emin; The Korean- Hyungkoo Lee; Canada-David Altmejd ( Scott-look up this guy, amazing, Hyungkoo Lee too for that mater); France- Sophie Calle, Isreal-Yehudit Sasportas; Japan- Masao Okabe; and the good ol' USA- Felix Gonzales Torres, who is actually an imigrant from Cuba. We saw others too. Cheif among them was the African Pavillion, which was a first this year, which housed many artists who worked around the theme of "the unseen, seen".
Speaking of seeing, it was a lot to take in and I could write pages about each exhibit. We took pictures and picked up catalogues whereever they were free and I'm sure we will spend the next year at least decompressing from this as well as everything else we've seen here these past two weeks.
It is our last day here, so hard to believe! We are off to the Accademie (every town has one)today to round out our time. It is a spectacular day and I know we will also spend part of it wandering one last time through the narrow winding streets ( if one can call them that) of this ancient, lovely city. We are melancoly and anxious to be home at once. We look forward to spreading accross our own beds, or any bed since you can't spread accross a bed in Italy without hanging off both ends. But we will miss Italy, we know, and reflect on it with only the fondest thoughts.