Girlfriend time!

After devoting MOST of my time to increasing my German vocabulary, I found I needed a girlfriend fix. Women, you know what I mean. Nothing like girl-girl time to laugh, eat, and just plain enjoy each other’s company.

Thanks so much Glenn for sharing your home and hearth!!!Without further ado, fav photos from this part of my trip:

First stop? La Rotonda in Vicenza. Google it. There's LOTS to discover, as in it was the model for THE white house.

It was "open." People still live here, but you can buy a ticket for 5 euros and walk around the grounds.

There she is! She had the bright idea to rent a car for the time that I was there.

Valentine's Day 2012 . . . went to vist a dear friend who lives in Italy. No, we're just good friends.

Another angle.

Hmm, what's she see?

Houses that were used long ago by the employees of the Rotonda. See where carriages once entered the building?

They keep an eye on things.

For those who want to know more . . .

Hey! He didn't bark; I just heard him rustling around.

Vicenza's a really quaint town, I found.

"I live down there towards the right," she said.

The Church of St. Mary of Mount Berico sits atop the hill overlooking the city.

One of two villas that define the town, Vicenza (or something like that).

Then we went to this town where grappa comes from.

What's grappa?

Think of moonshine dressed up in Italian fashion; it comes in many fruity flavors (but still kicks a!)

See the bullet holes from World War I?

I didn't see any red tool cabinets.

It was that time of year. Carnival. Fasching. There are so many names for this particular frivolity.

They were up there enlightening all of us.

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Italian carnevale, carnovale, from medieval Latin carnelevamen, carnelevarium 'Shrovetide,' from Latin caro, carn- 'flesh' + levare 'put away.'