Friday Fotos...

This is the third week in a row that I haven't been anywhere. No trips to the farm (Joe's client), the grocery, Sam's Club... just me in the house nursing the knee and watching TV.

Joe and I spent many hours watching three seasons of the Netflix series The Magnificent de Medicis.  It is a glorious series about Italy in the 1400s, the arts in Florence, and the introduction of Michelangelo, Botticelli, and DaVinci.  I especially enjoyed the art history!  Well researched, well written, and well-acted. I recommend it if you have an interest.  I kept Googling things while we watched just to verify or sneak ahead to see what happens.  Loved it.

Yesterday, we watched the old movie Three Coins in a Fountain, also set in Italy and the fountain in the movie (as well as other well-known sites) is the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

All of this had us talking about our trip to Italy and saying... we were there!  Or remember that?!  So, since I don't have any new photos, I have dug into the Italy trip archives to share some I'm sure most of you have seen before, but here they are again.  Bear in mind that I had a horrible point-and-shoot 10mp camera that took terrible photos inside and not such good ones outside, but here they are...

Venice.  This is someone's house.  Just pull the boat up...

Venice on the Gondola ride...

We had gelato every day. Didn't miss one!

Joe in the Gondola on the Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge in the background.

Venice from the top of St. Mark's Bell Tower.

Looking down on the St. Mark's Basilica from the Bell Tower.

We attended Mass in the Basilica.

You weren't allowed inside the church with bare knees or bare shoulders.

This is part of the Piazzo del Duomo in Florence. 

It was too big to get it all in one picture with my stupid camera.

Featured often in the Medici series as it was being built.

We visited Siena one day.

 This is the Piazzo del Campo in Siena.

They have a horse race here if you can imagine horses racing on bricks.

You can't tell from the photo but this is the biggest pizza we ever saw.

It was probably 30 inches in diameter.  In Florence.

Also in Florence, Michaelangelo's David. breath-taking.

 We visited the Coliseum in Rome on the rainiest day of our trip.

Very disappointing since we weren't allowed to climb in and really explore.

Joe at the Trevi Fountain. Yes, we both tossed in coins with the wish to return to Rome.

The Vatican Museum.  Not the entrance we used but worthy of the photo.

 Joe in front of the Vatican.

Joe still has a cousin who lives outside of Rome. We were blessed to spend a day with him and his wife.

It was an interesting 5-6 hours since they don't speak English and all we had with us was a book to help translate since we don't speak Italian.  We gestured and they had lots of family photos we looked at. It was wonderful.  Lidia cooked a delicious dinner for us. Joe & Pepino's Aunt Lucy (lived in the Philly area) helped us arrange the meeting.  She spoke with Pepino weekly and got it all set up for him to fetch us in Rome, etc., etc.  Yes, we spoke with her from their house while we were visiting.  They asked her to find out if we liked them and they said they liked us.  Such a blessing.

Pepino and Lidia D'Orsaneo with me on their front porch.

They have two children. We did meet their adult son, Guido.

There are many more photos but this is enough for today. It was our trip of a life-time since we will never get to go again. It was a blessing to go when we did when we were both healthier and had knees that worked without pain.

Thanks for your visit!!

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!