After five wonderful days in Sardinia, we returned to Francesca's home town of Vigevano. They have a great apartment in the city center and I love that they can go downstairs and walk around on the cobblestone square, shopping and eating.
A church in the town square
Inside the castle grounds at Vigevano
Francesca's grandma (Nonna) really wanted me to stop by and see her apartment, so we drove to a nearby town called Magenta to visit Nonna. She was so cute. She showed me all around her apartment and told me about the photos and the furniture, and then served an Italian drink her her special glasses, which Francesca noted that she's never been allowed to use. I felt so honored and special.
Francesca started taking driving lessons. On our way to Magenta, her mom pulled over and told her to drive. It was her first time with manual transmission. She actually did well.
Nonna. Note the GCU shirt.
That evening, we walked around Vigevano and enjoyed pizza in the square.
Our view from the restaurant, sitting outside. It was a little early for the dinner crowd.
Francesca and her good friend.
My pizza. Margherita
I had to take a photo of this. Francesca's friend ordered a pizza. It actually had potatoes (fries) on it!
Followed up by gelato.
The next day we were off on our girl's trip to Venice.
Getting on the subway to the train station
Nonna joined us. It's about a 2 hour train ride from Milan.
Views from the train
When you first arrive in Venice, this is the view you get walking out of the train station. Words cannot describe how beautiful it is. It doesn't even look real.
Taking the ferry to our apartment
Venice is a group of small man made islands, or archipelago, build around 420 AD. The foundation is actually made of wood. The wood is now petrified and will not rot. Here is a typical alleyway. It fascinated me to think about how different living here would be. No cars. Literally walking or boats.
Back in the day, this door was the main entrance to a home.
These wells/cisterns were all over Venice. In ancient times, it filtered water for the citizens
Caught this cutie in a book store
This is the main square in Venice. It was packed with tourists. I was told this is the area that the Venetian in Las Vegas is modeled after.
Looking inland
Looking toward the sea
All of a sudden some ominous clouds started forming. We had to make a dash back to the apartment before the storm rolled in.
Running back to the apartment in the rain. Even Nonna kept up!
When we got back to the apartment, Nonna handed Francesca and me a package. Inside were airline socks from when her husband worked at the airlines. They were at least 30 years old and she had kept them this whole time. We used them to get warm.
The ceilings of our apartment were original beams from the 1600s
The brick was original as well.
Our apartment door
We ate at a local restaurant that evening. It used to be under water and this post is where they would tie boats. So much history.
Sarde In Saor - a traditional Venetian appetizer. It's a marinated sardine covered in onions. I didn't have any desire to try this
Because it was a seafood restaurant, my options were limited, but still excellent. I had a beef filet with crusted parmesan topping.
Dessert
Followed by a shot of limoncello.
This is the Venetian version of a mail truck. All items are delivered by boat.
Glass chandeliers
I thought these guys were cute.
A view of Murano
We did a tour of this factory
Outside of the glass factory that we toured
Looking out from the inside
A photo of the furnace. The temperature is over 1200 degrees.
The glass maker artist did a demonstration of blowing a vase and a shaped horse sculpture. They make them very quickly, in less than five minutes to work with the hot glass.
After sculpting the horse, the artist laid a piece of paper on it to show how hot the glass still was.
Inside the showroom. These pieces are very expensive.
After Murano, we took a ferry to another island called Torcello. It used to be a busy city, now it's mostly just a few summer homes.
There is an ancient church from 600AD. It's one of the oldest buildings in Venice. This photo is a baptismal pool.
The outside of the church. We went inside, but were not allowed to take photos. There were a lot of mosaics inside, telling stories. It's currently being renovated.
Outside of the church
We stopped for lunch. It was almost exclusively seafood, so I ordered a couple of appetizers. This is fried olives, filled with meat. I'm not sure what the meat was, but it tasted like hot dogs.
The other one was basically like bread with cheese covered in batter and deep fried. It was good, but very filling. I could only eat half.
After Torcello, we took a ferry to Burano, another island in Venice, known for handmade lace. It's a super cute town and all of the buildings are painted brightly in different colors.
This woman sits in the store and created lace items. This day, she was making a picture of Burano.
An elegant, hand made lace wedding dress
We were all hot and tired, so we took the ferry back to Venice. This is a view the cemetery from the ferry, it's own separate island.
Back in Venice
I caught an ambulance going on a call
That evening we had our aperitivo at a roof top bar. I tried the Rossini. Probably one of my favorite drinks on the trip. Prosecco with strawberry puree.
A view from the bar
The lion in Venice
A cute little patisserie where we had breakfast.
The grand canal
It was our last day in Venice and we were all hot and tired. We walked over 9 miles each day. We all took a break on the church steps, except Valeria who has endless energy.
Lunch was cicchetti. Similar to bruschetta, it's a traditional Venetian appetizer. It was really good.
This guy was walking in front of me.
I loved spending time with Nonna
Venice is a place everyone needs to go once in their lifetime. It's a beautiful place and so rich in history.
The next day, it was time for me to return home. I enjoyed one last cornetto while waiting at the airport.
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