Summer Fun

4th of July

What could be better than a beautiful and not overly hot 4th of July? We got lucky and had Lagoon without crowds. Heaven. Elise brought friend and we stayed up there overnight.Lagoon Water Park
Deer Creek with cousins!!

Lynn, Jeff, Juliane water skiing in background





Cousin Fun at the Splash Park in Alpine

ITALIA- Rome

Roman Colosseum


ROME was the first stop on our 25th anniversary trip. We spent months planning out route details and studying things we wanted to see and 3 wonderful weeks away on vacation! I am going to have to severely edit myself here, but I did post a lot of pictures on fb. We had visited Milan and some surrounding towns ten years ago, but this trip we wanted to take our time and explore more of the country.
The hardest part was realizing there is never enough time to see everything. Greece, Almalfi coast, Capri etc.. will have to wait for next time!
We spent three romantic weeks together celebrating twenty five years. It was the best trip I think we have ever taken and I will always keep those memories close. The shot below is a view of the Colosseum from Palatine Hill. Below that is the stone walkway that leads from the cololsseum through the Arch of Titus into the Roman Forum.
Inside the Arch of Titus, with a relief showing the sacking of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans.

GIOLITTI'S by the Pantheon, was fabulous- said to be the best gelato in Rome- I think we tried countless gelaterias, this one was on the top of the list ;)

Italia- Rome 2

Vatican City
Rome's Fountains
Some of the best times we had in Rome were spent walking at night. The city is so stunning. We ended up at the Trevi fountain a few of the nights. It's so beautiful lit up.

Walk to the PantheonInside the Pantheon

View of Roman Forum
We ate.. according to Lynn the BEST Lasagna he's ever had in a little Trattoria in Rome. I'm not a big fan of lasagna, but I LOVED it too. This was his favorite until we got to the coast. ;)

Tuscany

We loved driving through Italy and especially Tuscany. There are countless Hill Towns to see.

Volterra has incredible views, etruscan artifacts and wonderful history.
Etruscan Arch- oldest known. Early example of arch and keystone.
Newly uncovered Roman Theatre
We stayed several days in a villa in Sienna and took day trips to surrounding areas by car. Sienna is magical, especially at night. Below is entrance to the ancient walled city.



Trattoria
Best meal in Sienna... wow.

Hill Town Orvieto's Duomo has the most elaborate and decorated facade in Italy.
Ever wonder where some of the beautiful hand painted pottery at Sur La Tab comes from? Right here... Hill towns are wonderful, We also saw San Gimignano which was fabulous.

Florence

What a marvelous place Florence is. I felt like I could see Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael or Botticelli walk around the corner at any time. It seems unchanged.

Viewing the David was a remarkable experience.
End of the day viewing Florence at Sunset. Bucket list item.

Cinque Terre

We spent several days on the Italian Riviera at the Cinque Terre- five villages connected together by a hiking path and then in the 60's or 70's I think, the train connected them. Truly enchanting villages and very beautiful.

Pesto Lasagna

Venice

On our way from the Riviera to Venice we stopped in Parma- lifelong fantasy fulfilled ;) We also stopped in Modena for Balsamic and Bologna. Parmigiano Reggiano Factory below.Venice is a magical place as well. It's best to just get lost in it's maze of streets.

Pink Lights...