What a beautiful thing is a sunny day.

Welcome to Riomaggiore. A tiny fishing village in the Cinque Terra region of northwest Italy. Simply stunning.

Dave observing the art on a wall in Riomaggiore.

In Riomaggiore- one of the five cities in the "Cinque Terra" region on the Meditteranean Sea. Another place where we said "we could live here."

Some fishing boats on the little harbour of Riomaggiore. I said to Zev "I would happily wait tables if we could live here." Seriously, it is THAT beautiful. Venice is even more incredible...

Looking over the rooftops in Riomaggiore. Walking down from the parking lot into the city is half the fun- tons of winding, almost secret little passageways, nooks and crannies where people actually live. If I was a kid, I would SO LOVE to play hide and seek in these little Italian towns. I'll just be a child at heart...

To get to the Cinque Terra towns, we had to drive up a long and winding hill (or rather hills), from La Spezia, to reach the first of the five towns, Riomaggiore. There are walks and hikes between each town, along the Meditteranean or through the forests and vineyards. We even saw some Italian Navy Ships leaving port in La Spezia, as we made our way up the mountain. Zev is a great "winding road" driver. I am grateful for my husband...

I wonder where Zev gets his "photographer" gene from?

This picture is dedicated to my brother (and motorhead), Mario. Bro- we saw SO MANY of these little "trucks" in Italy. Especially in the Italian hills. They must be good for manoevering or something. Can you imagine squeezing into one. You might have trouble ;-))

I called these little "apartments" the Hobbit Houses. Little places with great views.

Zev was in his happy place at this deli in Florence.

Italy brought out the artistic side of me- here I am just experimenting with light and shape...

In front of the Cathedral in Florence. Right after we each had a wonderful Italian gelato. Pistaccio is hands down my favorite flavor. Every time Zev would ask me what flavors I wanted on my gelato, I would say pistaccio. The best pistaccio gelato I had was this awesome one serve scoop for just 1 euro in downtown Venice. I'm telling you, I could live in Venice. Zev too...

A passageway in Riomaggiore...

When in Rome (or rather Florence). Here David lights up a cigar. He looked quite debonair smoking a cigar while walking the streets of Florence...

Judy and I picking out that perfect gelato flavor. I think gelato is good for you. Good for the soul maybe?

Dave and Judy did their bit in helping to hold the leaning Tower of Pisa up.

Venice at dusk. What is not to love? Blue gondola boats. Pink murano glass lampshades. The strains of classical music in the background. And watching sunset with your loved ones.

Just beautiful...

That's my man. And. He. Is. Gorgeous.

Italians put a lot of care and effort into fashion- including their police officers! How cute are these women police officers (Carabinieri) with their matching white hats and white leather pistol holders. Hey- a girl has to look good when when she is arresting people. This police lady had just pulled over a lady scooter rider in downtown Florence (women also love to wear high heels while riding a scooter in Italy!!)

We realize that we are very fortunate and blessed to be living in Europe, and to explore the beautiful cities and interesting cultures here. We just got back last night from a week in Italy with Zev's parents, and wanted to share the beauty of southern Europe with you. Because if you can't be here with us in person, you are always in our hearts and thoughts and prayers and we thank the Lord for being able to share this with you. Last night Zev's dad, Dave, and I were talking about typical Italian songs that one would expect sung on a gondala in Venice. He mentioned the classic "O Sole Mio" (My Sun) and I felt that the words captured our experiences in Italy. We were so grateful for sunny weather (quite warm too for Autumn!), safe travels and wonderful experiences.

PS: Zev and I are VERY HAPPY to hear the wonderful news from Australia- if you guys are reading, you know who you are. Thanks for calling us to let us know. We can't wait until April, 2010!!

"O Sole Mio" (English Translation)
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day,
The air is serene after a storm
The air's so fresh that it already feels like a celebration
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day
But another sun,
that's brighter still
It's my own sun
that's upon your face!
The sun, my own sun
It's upon your face!
It's upon your face!
When night comes and the sun has gone down,
I almost start feeling melancholy;
I'd stay below your window
When night comes and the sun has gone down.
But another sun,
that's brighter still
It's my own sun
that's upon your face!
The sun, my own sun
It's upon your face!
It's upon your face!

Venice, the City of Love (well in Fifi's opinion anyways)

And finally...an unrelated picture to Italy, but something I would like to add. Judy taught me how to make pretzels. The lady CAN COOK! She is a wonderful bread maker and I look forward to making some Italian bread with her. I'm on a roll now. Pardon the pun....

We followed a pretzel recipe from Rachel Ray's magazine.