Soup, Glorious Soup.

As many of you know, I can eat soup no matter what the temperature outside may be. Unfortunately, my husband does not share my passion particularly when we are in the middle of an Arizona summer. Thankfully for me, it FINALLY feels like December here in Phoenix and that means, soup's on! One of our favorites is Beer Cheese soup, a recipe my parents made for my sister and I growing up. Warning: This recipe is not for the faint of heart especially if you have an aversion to butter, cheese and all things awful for your arteries. From our kitchen to yours.

Beer Cheese Soup

4 cups vegetable broth

1 medium onion, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup flour

1 cup beer (I use Fat Tire or Blue Moon)

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (better quality cheese seems to do well in this recipe)

Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a soup pot. Add onion, celery and carrot and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. While vegetables are cooking, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour to make a roux. Whisk often on medium heat for 5 minutes or until flour is cooked through. Stir beer into vegetable/broth mixture and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Add roux to cooked vegetables/broth and let heat through. This should thicken your soup. Last but not least, slowly add the cheese in handfuls mixing constantly so you don't get any clumps. Enjoy with plain popcorn sprinkled on top (how my parents serve it) or with a crusty piece of bread. Enjoy!

If you're in the mood to throw all caution to the wind, feel free to add a couple of chopped potatoes when boiling your vegetables. It will make your soup a hearty and starchy concoction of goodness. 

Just Like Grandma Made

 One of the unfortunate things about being vegetarian is having to give up certain family favorite foods. Up until a year ago, Steve and I would frequently request my Grandma Iris to make her famous meatloaf when we would drop by for dinner. When meat became a no-no for us, shock set in. What were we supposed to do without that circa 1950's, feel good comfort food?

Steve Mason to the rescue.

Last night, my wonderful husband made a delicious lentil loaf for us. Before you start thinking to yourself how odd this sounds, let me assure you that this was an excellent meal that was reminiscent of real meatloaf with a veggie kick :) I dare you to try it! This recipe is brought to you by theveganstoner.com

I also have to add that Steve not only cooked but cleaned the kitchen too...am I spoiled much?

Someone Like You

A few weeks ago, our family went through a great loss. For those of you who never had the chance to meet Sasa...you missed out. This dog was a dog like none other. She was loving, smart (when she chose to be so), quirky and above all, a ginger. Because she was, and always be, a part of our family, she deserves a few words to remember how her life brought happiness to all she met. To prelude this post, know that this may end being a short novel and I will in no way be offended if it is not read to its entirety. Instead, I think this blogger is getting these memories down on "paper" to soothe her own aching heart.

I know it's a little cliche when asked people say, "our dog chose us" but Sasa really did! She was one of many puppies in a litter of cute, squirmy and wrinkly vizslas. We played with all of them and thought we had decided when this gangly looking thing kept coming at us like, well...a puppy dog. Let me also point out that her name at the time her name was "Little T" due to the white T marking she had on her chest. What's the so special about that? My dad, Terry, has long been known as "Big T." Coincidence? I think not. Sasa (we thought was Hungarian for "princess" and turned out to mean nothing at all...joke's on us!) came home with us when she was 8 weeks old...it was Thanksgiving Eve, 2000. I vividly remember this because my sister and I were able to skip church that night to stay with the puppy in my dad's church office...thank you for small miracles via puppies. Mom and Dad, don't take this too seriously :)

Puppyhood in the Pletkovich household commenced. We all learned a lot those first several months. Some lessons I took away were:

1. It sucks to have to take your dog potty in a blizzard (we lived in Colorado at the time)

2. Dogs bred for hunting are not just smart. They are in your face, pay attention to me, I'll destroy your wardrobe if you ignore me, kind of smart.

3. A puppy learns quickly what buttons to push with you very early on. Who adopted who?

4. A dog gives you love freely, unrequited and unconditional.

Sasa soaked up training like a sponge which provided her the structure that her intelligent brain so desperately required. Our favorite trick she learned was to 'play dead' which included the drama of sticking both front legs up stiffly...think rigor mortis. A little messed up right now but just because she is gone now, I can't negletct to remember the laughter that occurred every single time she did this. She actually learned this trick from our neighbor's lab mix, Iggy, who befriended Sasa and taught her his guru ways of being a good dog. I credit Iggy for giving our dog a joyful and playful first few years and I can't help but think they are somewhere madly chasing each other in a grassy backyard or laying together by a warm fireplace as they so often did.

Insert funny memory...

When Sasa was about 2 years old, the lovely ladies from my mom's side of the family (Grandma Marlys, Auntie Mike and Aunt Nancy) visited from Minnesota. In this week long trip, Sasa managed to earn her first trip to the animal ER but slicing her foot open on the metal siding used to divide a grassy area from rocks. She was stitched, bandaged and forced to wear the cone of shame. One of my favorite things about my aunts visiting is the baking that ensues during their trip. This time around, my Auntie Mike was making her famous rolls (these things are world class!) and there was an unusually large amount of flour covering the kitchen. We all left for a short time and when we came back, Sasa was sitting on the couch, rocking her cone and COVERED in flour. She was a counter cruiser and this was our first proof of that.

Looking back at this time, I can't help but think that Sasa and I did a lot of growing up together. She was there when I was getting ready for my first prom, she watched me leave the house to go to my high school graduation and she always was ready to lend a paw when my teenage hormones left me a blubbering mess. Unconditional love, remember? It wasn't easy when my parents moved to Arizona and I made the decision to stay in Colorado. I knew I would miss Sasa (and my entire family) and it proved to be difficult. Flash forward to 2005 and here I am, moving to Mesa, AZ. All together again.

One of the most wonderful things I remember about Sasa is the bond she quickly formed with this cute security guard I worked with at Target. I figure that most dogs are good judges of character, especially when it comes to someone who can make such a big difference in our lives. Steve and Sasa were buddies through and through. She wiggled her little bottom every time he came in the door. She would sprawl across the two of us on the couch and settle in to watch a movie. When he would leave, Steve would instruct Sasa to go to her 'goodbye station' and she would go to the exact same spot on the stairs to get her farewell cuddles from her favorite bud. It's the little things. And I loved that my future husband was so thoughtful and caring toward this creature that was obviously so important to me. In the words of Immanuel Kant, "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." Per this quote, Steve has a huge heart and I'm thankful for the time the three of us spent together.

Queue the vet bills. As many pure bred breeds do, Sasa began to have some fairly serious health issues in her older years. She battled Cushings disease for almost 5 years which required about four differenet medications a day which my mom dutifully gave her. In 2010, it was discovered that she had a tumor on her liver. Inoperable because it was so close to a major artery but not life threatening at this point, my parents made the decision to maintain her illness and let Sasa live out the time she had left. This was undoubdtely the right choice and I am grateful to them for giving us all almost another two years with her. When my mom called me at midnight three weeks ago, I knew something was not right. She said something was wrong with Sasa and I left immediately. We rushed her to the ER and to were told the news that we had been waiting to here for quite some time--Sasa's tumor was causing her to bleed internally. While she was seemilngly back to normal the next day, there was a heaviness weighing over our family knowing that the invetiable was finally knocking at the door. Eventually the damage would cause too much damage and we had no control over when or where that would happen. We all talked about it as a family and decided together that we would not be able to live with ourselves if something happened to her while we weren't at home...would she be scared? Would she be in pain? As painful as it was, those were not risks we were willing to take. Our family vet, Dr. Duplissis (you would be hard pressed to find a more compassionate person, both to animals and people alike) eased our doubts and agreed that after all this time, Sasa was ready to move on.

Sasa spent her last week with us living like a queen. Seriously, everything she had been previously been denied because of her health issues was thrown at her and her bottomless pit of a stomach. On the trip home from her vet visit, Sasa and my mom stopped for a burger at Carl's Jr. The next day, my mom's good friend Jackie brought a burger AND a milkshake from McDonalds. The following day, Auntie Erin brought her not one but two dog-friendly cupcakes from Sprinkles (the Rolls Royce of cupcakes.)

The last day we spent with Sasa is a day I will remember for the rest of my life. Another side effect of her health issues was she was unable to get her vaccinations due to her weakened immune system. This made is impossible for her to go to parks, play with dogs she didn't know and do many of the things she used to love so much. The only choice was to take her to a park and let her take in the scenery. She gawked at the ducks, made friends with a couple of little girls who sweetly asked if they could walk Sasa and lounged around like a typical dog. She loved it and so did we! After that, we headed to Sonic where she enjoyed a hot dog...don't judge, she deserved every bite :)

To say that evening was difficult is a massive understatement. I feel that while it's been healing for me to share all of this, some things need to remain private and the details of what transpired at the vet that evening will be something that will stay close to my heart. I will tell you that my Mom, Dad, Steve and myself spent a very emotional and grieving time together that I think was essential for us to say goodbye.

I think of her every day and it still stings when those memories come flooding back. But time heals all wounds and while there will always be a tiny hole in my heart where she used to be, I will marvel at the love and happiness she brought to our family.


You know how the time flies, only yesterday was the time of our lives. I love you, Sasa. Always in my heart.

DIY

 These pieces were finished a couple of weeks ago so I am a little delayed in posting them. This brings our total to 3 re-finished dining chairs, 1 china hutch and a side table. For now, I am taking a break! When it cools off, I think inspiration will come again but for now we are content with what we have :) 

Abby

Here are a couple of pictures Steve took with his new camera. She is an angel :)

Thrifty

Steve and I moved into a townhouse at the beginning of July. As we settled in, we realized our extreme lack of furniture. We saw, we shopped...we did not conquer. I wanted something different and something that we could make our own. It was at that time that I entered the dangerous world of shabby chic decor blogs. Scary. Steve has been a rock star at sanding (not an easy job) while I am able to sit in the air conditioning and paint until my little heart is content. It makes me feel a little Martha and is quickly becoming a guilty pleasure :) It has been fun, tiring and rewarding! Here are the two pieces we have completed so far.

This is a china hutch we found at Goodwill for $40. It was pretty beat up but a solid piece of furniture.

Before...

And after!

At another Goodwill, we scored this awesome chair for $5. I was a little overzealous and started painting

before I took a picture with the cushion still on but this gives you a pretty good idea what shape it was in.

1. We had some paint left over from the china hutch so I was resourceful and used it on the chair as well. I found the perfect fabric to cover the cushion!

Catching Up

I'm fairly certain the point of blogging is to try your best to update it as things happen in your life. Unfortunately, I am a procrastinator extraordinaire...which translates into--there are many things to update on this post!

Two weeks ago, Steve and I went to South Carolina to celebrate the wedding of my best friend, Nicole Hagerman to a great guy, Jon Abercrombie. It was the perfect wedding and I feel so lucky to have been included in the celebration. Nick was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen...she was stunning. It was an emotional week but SO much fun. I was able to reconnect with some long lost friends and also made plenty of new ones! Congratulations, Nickie and Jon! Love you both!

 



My bestie!





He is one good looking videographer :)





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Happy couple!

 

 The week after the wedding, Steve's sister, Melissa, graduated from Red Mountain High School. Everything was perfect and she accepted her diploma looking sassy is a pair of white wedges! Congratulations, Melissa Bette Mason! Can't WAIT to see the wonderful things to come in your life :)



No more weddings or graduations for now. Life is calm except for our impending move. Because Steve is now working in Scottsdale, we are trying to find a condo to rent in that area. It will be nice to be closer to the city center...however, we will miss living with Matt. I know Abby is going to miss her cousin (Fitzy) a lot too :( I think that's it for now. My summer resolution is to keep up with this thing. If I could do it from Europe I can certainly do it from the comfort of my own home!

Cheers



Time flies

On Saturday, we saw Steve's sister, Melissa, off to her senior prom. It was a very proud moment and she looked amazing! Melissa was 12 when I met Steve and since then, we have seen her change from a girl  into an ambitious young woman. Steve was very excited to send his little sister off for a night of fun and unforgettable memories :)



Spring is here

Steve and I recently celebrated our 2 year anniversary by going to Disneyland...honestly, where else would we go?! It was a great time--we splurged and ate at the Napa Rose for dinner which was an amazing experience. We packed our days full of rides and running around to make sure we got to everything...never a dull moment when we are visiting Disney!

Stuck in line for Indiana Jones



A mini replica of our wedding cake :)



My anniversary gift from Steve

Big Thunder!

Snap back to reality

We haven't blogged since we returned from our trip...that was unintentional! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind and it has taken us a bit of time to get readjusted to normal life, ripe with responsibility and obligation. Our trip left us with a fever...and the only medicine is more traveling, baby! We do not have any definitive plans but we would like to try to go to northern Europe next summer...time will tell.

But for now, we are back in Arizona and bracing ourselves for another summer...oi vey. One great piece of news is that Steve got a new job! He will now be an account manager at Yelp and he starts on May 3. His last day at UoP is Thursday...the countdown begins! To celebrate our 2 year anniversary and Steve's new employment, we are going to Disneyland this weekend! We are both looking forward to it...I plan to be very tired that day as it would be unthinkable to miss the Royal Wedding at 3 am--well worth it, I think! That's pretty much it for now...doesn't seem like there is nearly as much to blog about as there was when we were staring at the Eiffel Tower :)

Cheers!

Cheers

We are sitting in the Edinburgh airport waiting to start the first leg  of our journey home. This goes without saying but are sad to leave as this has been the trip of a lifetime.

Yesterday we ventured out to Scotland's coast, only a short bus ride from the city center. It was far from swimming weather but the sun was out. We mosied along the beach, munching on cheese sandwiches, apples and BBQ Pringles :) After going back into town we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Edinburgh and enjoying the relatively nice weather. There are huge, hilly, green parks here that look up onto the old parts of the city. Beautiful. We dozed, laughed and reminisced while laying under a blue sky and warm sun.

Scotland has been amazing and it is close to the top of the must do list when we come back to Europe. The people here are warm, friendly, inquisitive and ready to point you towards a pint when needed! Even their version of TSA is nicer and more polite than ours, a definite perk :)

So now we spend the next 14 hours in an airport or on a plane. Feeling blue to go home...excited to see friends and family (including a certain kitty Mason)...looking forward to coming back in the not too far future. See you all soon!

Addition: We are now in London. Every flight in Europe seems to be delayed. Our flight to Heathrow was an hour late and our flight home is behind an hour and a half. That makes four delayed flights this trip.

One more picture

We can only post 3 pictures at a time with the wifi connection we have right now. Here's a fourth. It was taken as a part of the underground tour. Perhaps this is what we would have looked like in 16th century Scotland. Yikes.

Scotland, The Last Stop

We landed in Scotland at midnight local time after our discount airline delayed our flight by 30 minutes. We headed through an empty Edinburgh Airport with our bags on our shoulders searching for a cab. When we finally found one and told him the address he knew just where to go. He dropped us off at our B&B, a splurge we decided to make after spending far less than we expected on food. We met the owner and fell asleep.

The next morning we woke up to a hot breakfast, something we haven't had in a while. The breakfast contained: scrambled eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, veggie sausage, and toast. It was very good. After food we got on our way, walking to the city center. Our first stop was The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the summer home of Her Majesty. It was a well put together tour, and a lovely place. We then went into the Scottish Parliament to have a quick look around and while there we stopped for an early lunch.

We then walked "the royal mile," a stretch of road connecting the current palace to the old castle, our next stop. Along the way we stopped by merchants and street performers, churches and pubs. It was a very busy, fun street. Upon reaching Edinburgh Castle we were amazed with its size. The place was huge, it was... a castle. There are many exhibits to be seen, and it took us a good 3 hours to see it all. Crown jewels, stories of plots against the king, and a camp for POWs were among the most interesting. The POW section was made more interesting because it actually housed American prisoners of war from the American Revolution. It was really cool to see etchings of the American flag on a door, made by a solider who had been shipped to prison across an ocean.

With the castle to our backs we headed to our room. We stopped at a grocery store to get dinner, and watched British Wipeout. Hilarious. Around 7 we headed out again for an underground tour. Much of High Street, or the royal mile, is built on top of old homes. We toured a few of them. It was a fun tour. It really would have sucked to live in Edinburgh in the 1500s, with the plague and poop everywhere.

It was ten when we headed back to the room. We stopped in a pub and had a few pints, not realizing what incredible lightweights we are. We stumbled out of the pub, which is next door to our bed and breakfast and went to sleep.

Today, our last full day in Europe, we plan on heading to the beach for a look around. The sun is shining like it has been nearly every place we've been. We're close to the end of our fun packed adventure. I'm sure today will be a beautiful one.

Miss you all, and see you soon.

Lindsay and Steve

Ciao...again

Apologies for another absence over the last couple of days...while we have had a good internet connection at our B&B, there has been an inescapable exhaustion that has rendered us unable to blog :)

Wednesday was our first full day in Rome and we went full force. We did the "Caesar Shuffle" which included visiting the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill. We also hit up the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. All were great, especially the first three. We were glad to see the last bit as well however these areas were very very touristy and filled with vendors shoving roses and knick knacks in your face...quite annoying.

Yesterday we visited the Vatican which was a site to behold. We spent about four hours touring the museum, square and basilica. Again, breathtaking. We also visited the tombs of the popes, including the grave of John Paul II.

We are now checking out of our hotel with bleary eyes and tired feet...but we will make the best of our last day in Italy until our flight leaves this evening.

Arrividerci Roma!

Roma

Today we made the four hour train trip to Rome from Pistoia. We were sad to leave the quiet and peaceful town we had come to know so well but knew it was time for new experiences. We said goodbye to our host, Federica, hoping one day we will all meet again. We also said ciao  to her angel of a dog, Mario. It has been nice to get a little animal lovin' when we cannot be with our own feline/canine friends :)

This time, we got on the right train and enjoyed the Tuscan countryside on our way to Rome. We read, dozed and were constantly entertained by Italian banter we could not understand. We checked into our B&B which is about a ten minute walk from Vatican City. We strolled around our area of town and stopped at a local butcher where we picked up bread, provolone and gruyere cheese, strawberries, marinated artichoke hearts and of course...beer. Before we had our gourmet picnic dinner we went to see the Vatican lit up a night. It was beautiful and we plan to go back on Thursday to tour the city in its entirety. The rest of our evening consisted of eating a good portion of bread, watching the Italian version of Deal or No Deal (horrible) and washing clothes in the sink...again.

We have promised ourselves to get up early tomorrow and attempt the "Caesar Shuffle" which highlights the larger than life monuments of the Roman era.

Pictures

Now that we have wifi again, here are a few pics we took in Tuscany. From the top, an amazing view of one of the towns in Cinque Terre, our new favorite wine introduced to us by our host in Pistoia and Coke is expensive but oh so good here :)

Italian Trains-2...The Masons-0

This Italian keyboard is unfamilair to me, and the spell check tells me every word is incorrect, so I am sorry if this post is somewhat hard to read. Here we go: Koinè ojsoansò oudanda agjùùàspda and also laudemio riunendo Oulx.

Just kidding.

Today was our last day in the Toscana region of Italia. Tomorrow we leave for Rome. We wanted to do something fun today, so we set out for the "Italian riviera," Cinque Terra. Wow. This seascape was a sight to see. Perhaps the most beautiful piece of earth we have laid eyes on this entire trip. Cinque Terra is a bit of a trip from Pistoia, you travel by train with several stops. Unknowingly, we decided to make it an even longer trip by taking a few wrong trains. 

We had the option of waking up super early and taking the 7 am train, but that did not happen, so we took the 9 am train. Our first stop was about an hour away, which came and went quickly with the help of our books. At the next stop we checked what we thought was the departure board to find our next train. We wondered aloud, "is this train going the wrong way?" Sure enough, we had been looking at the arrivals board. oops. I am very tired as I write this, so I flash forward a few hours to when we reach our destination... wwwhoooossshhh.

Cinque Terra consists of five small towns, we started our journey in the 4th town, Vernazza. It was beautiful. I wish we could upload pictures, but without wifi, we can not. Hopefully tomorrow. We grabbed some pesto pizza (pesto is something they are known for) and headed towards the water. We found a slab of land overlooking the sea. We let our legs hang off the edge, soaked up the sun and enjoyed our lazy lunch. We looked around the town for a bit, then headed to our next stop, Manarola (we skipped one town in the process). From there, we bought some jarred pesto, we also walked the famous Via Dell Amore. The story goes, that in the past, the two small towns people never got to know one and other, so they built a walkway. It was used primarily for young lovers from the different towns to meet. People lock padlocks to chains along the path to signify their bond nowadays.

Riomaggiore is the last town we hit. There we watched the sunset will sipping espresso. Very nice. We missed our train by only a few seconds, and had to wait for 45 minutes. During our wait we found a little market where we bought some bread and cheese for later. Our train finally came, and we were on our way home without a hitch. Or so we thought. Once we were out of the smaller train stations, we bought our main ticket home. We checked he departures list, and yes, we checked the right list, and found a shortcut in our route. We could take a Rome bound train to our next stop. Perfect! We headed towards the back of the train to be away from everyone else. We plopped down in our seats, commenting how nice everything was, and we began to eat. Halfway through our meal a conductor came by to check our tickets. "Wrong tickets," he tells us, "Where are your other tickets?" Other tickets? He tells us we are sitting on a EuroStar high speed train, in first class, and we will need to pay for our seats. Great. We tell him about the mix up, he is very nice, and works with us. He does not charge us for the first class seats, but lets us stay. He did, however, charge us another 30 euro.

The adventure continues! The next station left us with a 20 minute layover in a sketchy place. We were waiting near as many people as we could find when a very large homeless man holding a very large jug of what looked like olive oil came towards us. "UUUUUGGHHHH AAARRRRRGHHGGHHH?" He said. We ran.

And now we are back home, safe and sound. We will head for Rome on the cheap train, no first class EuroStar, in the morning. Thanks again for reading. If none of this made sense, blame it on our exhaustion and the Italian keyboard.

Miss you all,
Ciao!

Buonasera from Pistoia

Ciao to everyone! Our apologies for another temporary blogging absence. Our hosts do have wifi but for some reason it is not working on Steve's phone. However, we are in Tuscany, safe and sound, and it is wonderful. We took the train from Venice to Firenze (Florence) yesterday afternoon. Then we transferred and took another train to Pistoia which is about 40 minutes by train from Firenze. Pistoia is something out of a history book. It still has its original 12th century city wall as well as its city center (cathedral, duomo, the works!) Before exploring the town, we checked in with our hosts, Federica and Filippo. They are wonderfully kind and hospitable people. Filippo is finishing the book he is writing so we have not seen much of him but Federica has been eager to point us in the right direction on what to see and do. We went into town for an 8 pm dinner (normal for Europeans) and split an order of olive and mushroom mac and cheese and a margherita pizza. Yum! Federica and Filippo were hosting a dinner party with two of their friends, Lorenzo and Sara, when we returned. They invited us in to join in a glass of wine (ok, maybe more than one), limoncello and good conversation. Federica was kind enough to translate a heated Italian discussion on the rights and wrongs of nuclear power. Wow :)

This morning, we tried to get up early...not much luck with that but we did try! We took the train into Firenze to see the sights. We waited for an hour to get into Uffizi Museum, which included plenty of pieces from Rafael, da Vinci and Michelangelo. We also visited the Duomo and set out for the Accademia, home of Michelangelo's David. To behold something so old and beloved as this statue was rather humbling. And by the way, it is MUCH bigger in person than either of us were expecting it to be! Throughout the day, we ate---of course! Pizza, gelato (this time chocolate and chocolate mousse) and pastries. We strolled around Firenze and while we are happy to have gone, it left us feeling rather unimpressed. Perhaps if we knew more about Renaissance art it would have captivated us a bit more. It also had a very touristy feel and by the early evening we were ready to head back to our quiet Pistoia. We just returned from another night on the town, although it was much more subdued this evening. Sunday is the day of rest in such a small town and there was a quieted hush over the city. We managed to find an open restaurant where we indulged in mashed potato stuffed ravioli with mushroom sauce and vegetarian pizza. Have I mentioned we love Italy?

Now, let me tell you a bit about our accomodations. Federica has an apartment very close to the city wall I mentioned earlier. Their area of the apartment is on the second floor while ours is on the third. That's right folks...we've been put up in our own, very private section of this house. And the best part? We have a french door that leads to a private rooftop patio where we can see for miles...snow-capped peaks, vineyards and all of Pistoia. Sometimes there just are not words for such a sight so I will leave it at that and let your imaginations run away from you  :)

We originally expected to spend two full days in Firenze but we have changed our plans. Tomorrow we are headed to the coastal region of Cinque Terre. It consists of five small towns, all close to the coast and each with its own style and culture. We will check in tomorrow night and let you know how it goes!

Ciao for now!

Our Last Full Day in Venice

This morning we awoke to find we had provided a hearty American meal for the local mosquitos. Chomp chomp. Aside from being a little itchy, today was a great day. The weather was perfect, and all the sites were open.

We started the day trekking through the streets on our way to a grand church that was closed yesterday, La Salute. After looking through the stunning architecture we wondered around and got lost a few times. Something that has become commonplace here in Venice. Once we found our way again, we stopped for a sandwich and headed towards St. Mark's Square.

Once we arrived in the square we found or way into a museum where we strolled around and took in Venetian art. After the museum came the Doge's Palace, the place where the former rulers of Venice hung out and talked about how cool they were. It was a very impressive palace with large rooms and paintings everywhere. The prison was also very interesting with its dark, cold cells that would have housed many of the Doge's enemies. There is a famous bridge there, too. It's called the bridge of sighs, it connects the sentencing room of the palace to the prison. Legend says the bridge would be the last look of Venice for the prisoners and they would often sigh in sadness. Today, however, the bridge is covered in advertisements, and that made us sigh.

At this point we were pretty tired, so we went back to our room to nap (with the window closed). A few hours later we got up and headed out for dinner. We found a nice pizza place that told us they didn't have tap water, so we'd have to pay for bottled water. Yeah. Luckily the pizza was very good. After that was another round of gelato.

Now we're back at the room, planning our next few days in Florence. Hopefully we'll have decent internet connection. Either way we'll try and keep in touch!

Ciao grazie!

Sunny, Sassy and Saint Patrick

We woke up those morning to beautiful sunshine and sunny skies! We enjoyed another delicious breakfast and hit the ground running. Our first stop was the Accademia, a massive collection of Renaissance art. It was fascinating and very informational. Then we headed over to St. Mark's Square. This turned to hold a giant mass of humanity and we saw our first touristy part of Venice. We toured the inside of the basilica (beautiful) and stopped on the second floor balcony for a look over the square. While this part of the city was a must see, the real feel of Venice seems to be away from this spot...we are grateful to not be staying too close to the craziness :)

After St. Mark's, we strolled along the Grand Canal while munching on yet another slice of pizza. Today was funghi (mushroom) for me and carciofo (artichoke) for Steve. I resisted the temptation many times to buy knockoff designer bags on the street...the main deterrent being it is illegal to do so! We are realizing that part of the fun in visiting Venice is getting lost. It is, after all, an island! You can only get so far before reaching a dead end and finding another route. This is how we spent the rest of the afternoon, finally making our way back to our side of town.

Venice takes on a whole new attitude at night. Tonight was even more exciting as it is both St. Patrick's Day and 150 anniversario dell'Unità d'Italia (the celebration of Italy's unification.) Party central :) We had dinner at a local osteria---mushroom ravioli and gnocchi with a four cheese sauce. Shortly after, scoops of gelato. As if we had anymore room to indulge, we found an Irish pub to celebrate the holiday. We found ourselves in the middle of a Venetian neighborhood, drinking with Italians, Brits, Scots and of course, some Irish who were kind enough to have brought their instruments for some Celtic jigs. Apparently, everyone today really can be Irish!

Éirinn go Brách and Buonanotte