Italy 2015 - Part 13 - Gallarate (End of the Trip)

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

 

 That morning, we took a train back to the airport hotel...

 ...and met up again with Rosalba and Nino for a dinner out at Sapori d'Italia in Gallarate.

 Nino got an incredible dish that came in a cooked pizza crust...

 ...and was filled with scialatielli pasta, mussel, clams and more.

 He ate all of it (Bravo!).

 I had an incredible scamorza and salmon pizza...

 ...while Max went all out with this French fry pizza.

 We finished with some ice cream and a stroll...

 ...and I got to carry Max one last time before bed.

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Wednesday, July 1, 2015

 Even with such a fantastic trip in Italy, I think we were all ready to get back home.

Eaten alive by mosquitoes, Max was particularly pooped on the plane...

 

...and he especially didn't make it long once we got into the car at the Cleveland airport.

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 That night, before bed, we reminisced about our trip...

 ...talking fondly of our Scopa matches...

 ...Pinocchio Park...

 ...the wonderful meals...

...and the people.

What really made it special was the people!

Italy 2015 - Part 12 - Last night in Padua with Cristina and Lorena

Monday, June 29, 2015

Our last full day of Padua resulted in some morning shopping (only to learn that many stores either close completely on Monday or open late)...

...followed by a very seafood-esque lunch at Isola di Caprera (pasta with shrimp).

Even with a half order of spaghetti with fish roe sauce...

 ...I shouldn't have gotten the sampler appetizer (as Julia didn't care for anything on it)...

 ...AND I should have gotten a half order of the cuttlefish with polenta.

It was all good...but it was too much!

 Max, of course, decided to only eat cantaloupe and was of no help at all.

 That evening, after an afternoon return to La Romana where Max took my almond brittle ice cream (in exchange for his marscapone strawberry).

 We took a stroll and checked out the Chiesa degli Eremitani...

 ...waved to a few neighboring cats...

 ...and then prepared for a nice dinner with Lorena and Cristina.

Julia got a delicious-looking salad...

 

 ...I got some shellfish with pizza bread...

 ...and Max got some gnocchi (unfortunately, he wasn't much of an eater the past few days).

After some dessert and a bit of ice cream...

     ...we took advantage of the festive music and danced the night away.      

Italy 2015 - Part 11 - Venice

Sunday, June 28, 2015

 

Although the next morning started slowly, my realization of the time and the train schedule forced us to run (don't walk) out the door and find a taxi down the street.

Within minutes, we made it to the train station, where we bought kilometer tickets from the magazine kiosk (40 km to Venice) and ran to the track...

...to find the train was 10 minutes late and we had all the time in the world.

When we got to Venice, Julia went off to the Biennale while Max and I had a lunch date at Ivo and Rossella's.

It had been YEARS since I've navigated the calli of Venice...

 

 ...but I somehow found my favorite bar and desserts (for bringing to the meal)...

 ...and it was easy enough to find familiar sites...

 ...as if I had the navigational sense of a carrier pigeon.

 Unfortunately, I had doubts when I passed this final passage because I couldn't see a small courtyard I remembered...

...so I continued on and realized immediately that I made some kind of error.

But I called and Ivo came out to get me (he probably even heard me making the phone call from his window - I was THAT close).

I'll remember next time.

 We had a lovely meal of pasta with shrimp and zucchini, followed by meat, salad...

 ...and samplings of the desserts I brought.

 Max took a 2 hour nap on the couch...

...and then we all took a stroll to pick up Julia...

...stopping by this art gallery...

 

...and the entrance to the Arsenale...

...where Max was in love with all the lions.

 Ivo and Rossella got to meet Julia before Julia, Max and I split off...

...taking in some sites of Venice...

 ...hamming it up...

 ...getting some cute shots...

 ...and just enjoying our time together in general.

After a vaporetto (water taxi) back to the station...

 ...we hopped on our train...

 ...and went back to Padua, grabbing some sushi before bed.