TK & MK Do Italy (Again)

You remember that saying ..."The only two certainties in life are death and taxes...", right?  It should probably be amended to include a third- my parents will come visit anywhere, any time and for any reason.  Marathon in another country?  They'll be there.  Obscure holiday?  Why not come visit.  And most recently, I suppose they came because it was a few weeks after my birthday/father's day/the last time they'd seen me....so they traveled to Italy for a few weeks of fun.

Although they began their Italian adventure in Rome, they made their way up north here for the weekend and stayed part of the week exploring while the Hart's went off to work.  It was nice to have some guests at Hotel Hart, as our reservations have not grown as steadily as we'd expected or hoped (hint, hint!).  

Italy is beautiful this time of year...all the more reason for a Kelly visit!

TK & MK arrived on a Friday evening (on time- K & J, are you taking notes?) and we had a lovely BBQ on our back patio.  On Saturday, we began the day with a nice breakfast and then headed to a local winery to fill our own bottles and sample some wine.  MK also decided to buy half the store and was amazed by the great prices and also by the wine bottle coozie (which I'm sure is making its debut in Quincy and other South Shore towns as we speak).

From the winery, we went on an intense walking tour of downtown Vicenza.  I booked the tour thinking it would be a good idea, but failed to realize that it was in Italian (with a recording in English) and that it was the first time BPH had been out and about for a long time walking since his surgery.  Oops.  Not such a good idea.

We visited the Teatro Olympico and other sites in town, including the Duomo and a few Villas and even saw a thorn from Christ's crown.

Outside of Vicenza's Claim to Fame...Teatro Olympico

After the tour, we spent a few agonizing minutes searching for a church that would have a 6 pm mass as we were trying to kill time before dinner.  After a search, we stumbled upon the church we were actually looking for and settled in for an Italian liturgy.  The best part (and the only part most of us understood)- In this beautiful old church, they had a giant electronic scoreboard to display the page numbers for the music selections!  We ended the evening with dinner near the Piazza Signori and some good gelato.

The Castle in Malscine

On Sunday, we headed north to Lake Garda.  While we planned to rent kayaks nearby, we ended up taking the ferry across the lake to a few of the towns and ended up in Malcesine, a picturesque town known for its castle.  We ventured to the cable car, which took us to the top of Monte Baldo for a view of the mountains and the lake.  Our ride up the mountain was on the only revolving cable car, designed so that all have a chance to view the different perspectives as you ascend.  Take that, Chondola!

Views from Lake Garda

The town of Limone on Lake Garda

We returned to Hotel Hart (after a harrowing ride down the A22 autostrada) and had a pizza party.  For the rest of the week, TK & MK explored Florence and Venice and returned a few times for dinners, drinks and gift giving.  We bid them farewell soon after, but we know it won't be for long!

Come back any time!