It was raining off and on when we got to Florence.  First we walked across this beautiful bridge with shops and houses perched on its rail.

The rain scared off some of the visitors and left an opening for us. Jesse asked – what was the main thing I wanted to see in Florence. Of course – David by Michelangelo. After settling in our very nice Airbnb, off we went to check out the city and find The Academia where David was housed. We waited about an hour to get in, but it was worth the wait. There was a musical instrument museum, amazing stuff.Yes, this is a Stradivarius!and a harpsichord.We wandered through rooms and rooms of beautiful paintings centuries old and Michelangelo’s sculptures. He was an architect and sculptor first and foremost.Until you see David close up, you cannot really fathom what a huge statue this is. It has been moved to this museum for preservation but stood outside for many years.  For a perspective, here’s another view.So glad I got to see this in life. Thank you God for the rain, because if it had been a nice day, don’t know if we could have hung in there for the long lines that we saw waiting the next day when it was sunny! Everywhere we looked, the paintings and sculptures seemed to have a religious theme. So different from much of modern art!

So many nursing Madonnas!

We learned from our guide in the Vatican that Medieval artists depicted the Christ child with an adult face. This signified the reality that Christ came as a baby but with His sacrifice for our sins in mind the whole time. We noticed folks here don’t apologize for Christianity, and most don’t cover up the injustices that have happened in the past.

Another amazing painting from the 1200’s. Yep, it’s another nursing Madonna! I promise I won’t post all the pictures I took!

There were embroidered tapestries and banners also. Think of all the hours of stitching that women did to create this!

In between our visits we ate and let Judah chase the pigeons too.Judah shares his beloved monkey with mama. And dinner with daddy.

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Crazy beautiful everywhere!

And yep, this is two old people still walking in Florence!

We found a little Leonardo da Vinci museum in our wanderings.

I will never think of the Mona Lisa in the same way! 

Judah loved the pigeons. Not sure how the pigeons felt about Judah!

Statues everywhere

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One of the beautiful churches we found – under renovation because the front wall fell in during Mass!

Treasures in the side room of the church.No we did not climb the cupola. Too many steps, too long a wait!

J Dante

It was a fun adventure but it really started raining so back home to Vicenza!

We loved Vicenza! It’s a good-sized Italian city, but not too big.  Some tourism, but not too much. We saw some great things and not too crowded. Jesse and Paige took us to dinner out on Friday evening after we’d overcome a little jet-lag. Beautiful things everywhere.

A night on the town for two old folks!

Just the neighborhood church.

My baby and his beauty!

Us oldies on a rooftop drinking the Vicenza special drink.

Nothing like Italian gelato on the square, listening to street musicians.

People walk around like they’re not living in a museum! I have the best kids! Great hosts, friends and family. They are great parents too. The senseless beauty of antique works of art uncovered during renovations of buildings that are hundreds of years ago is overwhelming. Every church was a work of art.

We spent time here before and in between visits to Florence, Rome, Garmisch and Venice. Loved it and want to come back.

One of the greatest things Italy has to offer is gelato. I am especially fond of mango gelato.  Vicenza had the best!I can’t find this in America. Guess I’ll have to go back.

After a slight misadventure in the Atlanta airport (went to the wrong terminal and had to back-track, passport got stuck in the security scanner), we made it on our plane for the ride to New Jersey. Found our connecting flight and then off to the next connecting flight – to Munich. We had a four hour layover.We have arrived in Munich. After wandering a bit, we caved and found a McDonald’s for breakfast. Yea, I know. Chickens. But we are really afraid of getting lost and we’ve had to ask multiple times to get this far. Praying we get in the right plane for Venice. I must say, we haven’t met a single unkind person along the way through our airport adventures. God has been good. And we see here are a lot of nice people in the world. With coffee and eggs in our bellies, we are ready to move on.
We arrived in Venice on Wednesday morning but here is the reason we came! Hi Judah!

Our kids moved to Italy in January of 2016, taking our precious grandson with them (of course). It has been quite the adventure but with the aid of FaceTime (thanks to Apple phones), and a few visits from our daughter-in-law and grandson and son (mostly due to deaths in the family), we have been able to stay in their lives. Thank God for the internet! But it was our hope that we would be able to make a trip to their current home and see the country where our next grandchild will be born a citizen.
The planning started not long after they departed the USA. I was able to find reasonably priced airline tickets to Venice. Next to plan adventures for Ron and me, some with them and some alone (who needs to Rome multiple times?). By January of this year, all the arrangements were made for our great adventure. What follows post by post is our tale of travel.
5/1/17
The tickets are in our hands. American money swapped for Euros. Reservations made for tours and train tickets. AirBNBs and hotels reserved. Suitcases packed and clothes laid out. This bucket trip is going to happen. Hope I can blog as I go. Venice, Rome and Florence here we come! But even more important, Jesse, Paige and Judah – we will see you in a couple of days! Ciao!