What I'll always remember about Italy

The fact is, we barely scratched the surface  of all there is to see and do in Italy on our trip, yet when you look at lists of "must sees" and "must dos" we more than hit all the high spots. This is thanks to our fearless leader, Karen the Good.

 I have referenced this before,  still everytime I blog or sort more pictures I realize just how much ground we covered and how much we experienced thanks to her planning. It should also be mentioned, again, that she prodded us (especially me) along and kept us on track. That she endured our complaints and even at times, our ridicule is a testament to her gentle character.

And the baby sister made it fun. Where she is, there is almost always fun and this trip certainly was fun because of her wit and keen observations.  The Italian people we encountered seemed to enjoy her as much as I did.

How blessed I am to have taken this trip with these two sisters of mine.

I will always remember:

The  smiles of my sisters...

Romans drive fast and they walk fast, too.

My sisters are significantly taller than me. I had to work hard to keep up (plus my photoincessant  taking caused some delay)  I complained that i had to

take three steps to their two.


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The American cemetery at Anzio/Nettuno

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The Harbor in Anzio

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The fruit and flowers on display in Rome

There were flowers and gorgeous plants growing everywhere which yield some of the prettiest arrangements i have ever seen on tables.

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The Oculus in the Pantheon

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The Trevi Fountain at Night

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Those are pallets of sod to my sister's left. The next day we watched as palm fronds were brought in...

Watching St. Peter's Square being outfitted for Palm Sunday Service

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The frescoes and carvings and mosaics in Rome

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Outside in the Vatican Gardens

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Pretty things everywhere in Venice

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The Putti at the Vatican and elsewhere in Rome
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And...
I will always remember:
The kindness of the Italian people...
...they worked hard to understand our poor attempts at speaking Italian and were most gracious and patient with our tireless questions and requests for directions.


I will never forget:
The talks we had at bedtime
Sleeping with the windows opening listening to the sounds from outside as we drifted off to sleep...