Katie goes to Italy

A week after going to Italy with my sister, I headed back (a rough life, I know). I went to meet up with my aunt, Carin, who was there for about 2 weeks while her husband helped run a baseball camp in Rimini. Even though I boarded the wrong train, was delayed and as a result missed my connection in Milan, and rode from Milan to Florence without a reservation (meaning I played musical seats), I managed to make it to Florence with all my stuff and only an hour late - God is good! Carin was there waiting for me with her friend Jill. We immediately jumped into sight-seeing mode and saw most of the major sights in about 2 hours. I couldn't believe the detail of the architecture and how ornate all the carvings were. We saw some beautiful things and we hadn't even been inside anything yet! We then had a reservation at the Accademia Gallery which is where Michelangelo's David is. I really enjoyed seeing the different sculptures, but I admit, David couldn't help but overshadow everything else. At 17 ft tall, it towers above everything and really looks like it could come to life at any minute.

That night we headed to a Bed and Breakfast in nearby Panzano. Over the years, Carin has become friends with the owner, Giulietta, and I can see why! She was so friendly and welcoming and her place was just beautiful. One of the unique things about her place is that she offers Tuscan cooking classes, which we participated in our second night there. We made a 3 course meal including home-made ravioli and everything turned out wonderfully! The picture is of me and Giulietta rolling out our sheets of pasta, soon to become stuffed ravioli. After tasting that pasta, I might have to invest in my own pasta machine...

After an enjoyable day in the country, we headed back to Florence on Thursday for a little shopping and then traveled on to Venice. We stayed at another quaint little B&B and then spent Friday exploring Venice. We took a water bus down the Grand Canal so we saw all the gondolas, speed boats and houses literally built right on the water. We got off at Piazza San Marco and the slowly meandered our way back towards the train station. We wandered up and down numerous twisty-turvy streets and over countless bridges - everything was so enchanting. We managed to find Carin's restaurant of choice and had some delicious mushroom lasagna for lunch. I discovered that I love Murano glass (made on the Venetian island Murano), so I enjoyed going into the shops and admiring all the pretty things.

And then, alas, it was time to go home. It was a quick trip, but I really enjoyed what I saw and it was fun to see my aunt and have her as a tour guide. Her husband has been doing the baseball camp most every year for the past 10 years, so she has had quite a few opportunities to explore Italy and made an excellent guide!

Fagiolari - the bed and breakfast in Tuscany.

Our other traveling companion, Jill, stirring the leeks with which we stuffed our ravioli.

One of the many houses lining the Grand Canal in Venice. If you look closely, you can tell that the building isn't exactly level anymore.

My sister comes to visit!

My sister Lisa and her friend Jeremiah came to visit us at the beginning of March and we had a great time! We shocked them into the time zone by heading to a surprise party for a friend of ours the night they got here. We had lots of good food and it was fun to show them some Swiss culture. They did great and stayed awake until we left at about 12am! The next day we got up early and went skiing. It was Lisa's first time and by the end of the day she could do the run without falling down (much). Fortunatly, we'd found some slopes that were conducive to learning (ie not at a 45 degree angle with pro skiiers zooming past) so it worked out well.

Another highlight was taking a day trip to Thun. We explored a castle that had some beautiful views and a Toblerone museum. The basement had formerly been a pottery making studio, so there was a re-creation of what it may have looked like. Lisa (a potter herself) enjoyed this very much. Then we girls bored Jeremiah by poking around in all the fun little shops on the main street. We found a few expensive second-hand clothing stores, a Christian book store, a pottery shop (sadly the potter wasn't there), a necklace shop and an olive oil store. We topped the day off by eating traditional German fare of rosti and sausage at a nearby restaurant.

Then to finish off their visit, we all went to Cinque Terre, Italy for 3 nights. It was beautiful! It's an area on the west coast with 5 small towns right on the water. The houses are all very colorful and look very pretty set against the hills and the water. We enjoyed walking around, sampling the focaccia, and eating yummy, yummy Italian food. My overall impression of Italy was good, but it was nice to come back to the order and cleanliness of Switzerland.

It was fun having them here and I was sad to see them go. It was so nice to have a shopping buddy! Let me know when you guys want to come back!

Skiing at Les Diablerets - it was COLD!

Lisa and the old pottery making room in the Thun castle.

Being silly (the castle really does look like the one in the picture, though)

One of the Cinque Terre towns.