Pictures From Italy

Taking time out from the book long enough to post some pics from our trip to Italia last week. As always, click the image to enlarge..


Of course Giampietro and Agnese were unbelievably excited to spend some time with the X Man. Giampi was one of the special Italian mountain soldiers in his youth called the "Alpini". They do special get-togethers throughout the year, which explains the hat he's wearing:




And we wasted no time in diving into the Italian food. As usual I ate as much pizza as I could handle. The one below might be my new favorite: rucola, ricotta cheese and cherry tomatoes. Hmm, what country's flag does that pizza resemble?




I renewed my Italian fishing license while we were there and enjoyed some time fly fishing on the Brenta River while the X Man clowned around:




The X Man is normally a fussy eater but when we go to Italia he eats Giampi and Agnese's pasta like it's going out of style. He wasn't in the door 5 minutes before he asked them to make him some:



We spent a day in Venice, our home away from home when we lived there. I'd almost forgotten how much I love that city:



No trip to Italia is complete without the panini! I think the X Man was getting panini'd out by then:



Alas, it was time to say our goodbyes and hit the road. Any time spent with Giampi and Agnese is priceless, they are such wonderful people:




We stopped at the Emisfero to stock up on vino, olives and Grana Padano before we left. I ran in to pick it up but ended up being in there so long that the X Man got impatient and started reading my magazine. I laughed out loud when I saw this picture:



Our car full of Italian goodies, it was time to hit the Autostrada through the Alps. I never get tired of the drive, it's so beautiful:



We stopped in a little town in Austria called Heiterwang, which makes a good half way point to break up the drive.



And then, just like that, our Italian vacation was over. Back to work and the daily grind. *SIGH*