Italy! the short of it

Hannah, Glen, and I just spent just over 2 wonderful weeks in Italy. That means there is a lot of potential material for me to write about--the desire to be short and concise and the desire to be thorough and detailed warring with each other...so there are going to be several posts.

Short and concise:

Tues March 5th-Milan/Milano

     Jet lagged, store-bought gelato and meals, Italian TV (some Italian shows, some American shows with Italian audio, and some American shows in English)

Wed March 6th-Venice/Venezia

    TONS of walking, beautiful streets, rained on us a bit, went to a classical music concert, and eating gelato, of course (everywhere we went we ate gelato) 

Fri March 8th-Pompeii

     Hired a private tour guide for 2 hours, then wandered around a bit on our own.  Awesome place. Pizza near the birthplace of pizza, Naples/Napoli.

Sat March 9th-Rome/Roma

     Hit the Visitors Center for the LDS Rome temple and then took in a session in the temple, which turned out to be in Spanish and not Italian!

Sun March 10th-Rome

     Rome 4th ward actually had translators for us in Sacrament meeting and Relief Society (but not for Glen in Elders Quorum). Didn't see anything else in Rome. Next time.

Mon March 11th-Florence/Firenze

     Couldn't see the statue of David by Michelangelo because the museum is closed on Mondays. Gorgeous city (well, they all are).

Tues March 12th-Florence, Lucca, Pisa

     Wound up staying an extra night in Florence, but the tickets to see David were sold out. Went to a little paleontology museum instead. Not the same, but good enough.

     On our way to Silvano d'Orba, we made 2 stops in Tuscany: Lucca (a small walled city where we rented a bike for a short while) and Pisa (which needs no introduction).

Wed March 13th and Thurs March 14th-Silvano d'Orba 

     Glen's grandfather was born in Silvano before immigrating to the US at 3 years of age. Have the address of where he lived as a baby and took photos of it. Went to several cemeteries. Met the Mayor who invited us back in a few days.

Fri March 15th-Turin/Turino

     Glen's second cousin, Grazia, whom he met last summer when she and her boyfriend, Lionello, came to the US, lives in Turin. On Friday, Lionello took us on a tour of Turin while Grazia was at work and then we had dinner with Grazia and Lionello. 

Sat March 16th-Sacra di San Michele (St. Michael's Abbey)

     Had a day trip with Grazia and Lionello to the Sacra di San Michele. From the abbey, there is a breathtaking view where you can see the alps and the valley that Hannibal entered with his elephants in 218 B.C. on his way to battle with Rome.

Sun March 17th-Alessandria and Silvano d'Orba 

    Church in Alessandria with no translator this time.  Then we headed back to Silvano to meet with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for a tour of a local grappa distillery. Then they brought us to a restaurant and hotel owned by a Perasso family. Could not figure out how we might be related, but we're sure we must be.

Mon March 18th-Ovada and Silvano d'Orba and then Milan

     We spent some time in the next town over from Silvano, Ovada, which is a bit bigger than Silvano.
     Then we met up with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and someone else (Pierre?). They took us to the home that the first Perassos who moved to Silvano owned. Didn't get a date for that happening. Drove to Milan that night.

Tues March 19th-flew home

     Had trouble getting to the airport. Just barely made our flight from Milan to Frankfort. Flew into San Francisco and rented a car to get us back to Reno. Glen and I arrived home just before midnight.

What a fabulous trip!