Pictures! Finally!

Well, I just got back yesterday evening after a delayed flight out of Amsterdam. The rest of the trip since Asti has been rather uneventful.

The weather at Lake Como could have been better. It was wet and cold for the most part. I had spent most of the full day we had in the area at Bellagio. Unfortunately, there were no George Clooney sightings. There weren't any guided tours happening due to the weather. At the tourist information office they gave us a few pamphlets to go by. We used the 1 hour self-guided tour to orient ourselves to this little town.

At some point in our little walk, we come upon a small church next to the municiple building. Our fearless group leader decided to go have a peek inside. We saw him go into the church. Then he quickly came out of there with a strange look on his face. Apparently, he walked in on a funeral that was just getting ready to start! Oooops!!

After that we decided to check out some of the shops in the town. Along the way, we come across a shop that had some designer (i.e., D&G) watches. One of the girls wanted to check them out. Our group leader also wanted to see what they had as well since he's been shopping around for a watch. while looking over the watches they had, he found one that he rather liked. We asked him if was sure he would buy that one. He said yes. Then one of the guys told the salesperson that we would take it. we essentially got our group leader the watch as a token of our appreciation. We had earlier discussed what to give him as a tip for all he's done on the trip for us. The cost of the watch was pretty much in line with what we agreed to put in as cash. So it worked out pretty well! And our intrepid group leader was quite happy and beside himself with this gift! :)

After we were done with Lake Como, we were off to Venice. To get to Venice, we had to take the train back to Milan and then catch anothe train to Venice. It was a long journey. :-p

In Venice, we had some time to walk around a bit. In a rather round about manner, we managed to find our way to piazza San Marco. By then it was getting a bit late so we caught the vaporetto back to the area close to the hotel so we could freshen up before dinner.

Dinner was at a trattoria recommended to our group leader. He had never been to it before so he had to ask for directions to find it. The place was nice and the food was good albeit a little higher in price. This was our last dinner as a group. The next day, everyone would start to go off on their seperate ways.

During the dinner, there were some toasts and some confessions. Our intrepid group leader confessed that he was 22 years old as he proclaimed to be in the beginning. Instead, he was really 20 years old! As well, this wasn't his fourth Intrepid tour, it was actually his FIRST! Well! For his first tour, he did a pretty good job of it! There were a few times when we wondered why he needed to figure out how to get somewhere, but I guess we just didn't think too much about it! In any case, we had a few laughs and more to drink. At the end of it wall, on the way back we decided to sing that old Dean Martin classic "That's Amore". I think we sang it on one of the bridges near the trattoria. No one really paid attention to us, which is just as well, because I must confess that I did not join in on the singing. :) Call me a coward!

So the next day, I had the whole day as well as a few other people. So we all decided to head over to San Marco first. When we finally found our way there (after a detour to Murano island), we found the piazza flooded. I guess a lot of the tourists found it to be quite the spectacle to see the piazza flooded like that. Thankfully I was wearing these sandals that are meant for both wet and dry environments, so I waded around the flooded piazza a bit. After that, we decided to make our way back on foot to the train station. One couple was staying at a hotel that evening not far from where I was going to stay. Another couple needed to get their stuff and make their way to the airport.

We got to the hotel and saw that a few others have not come back yet to get their stuff. So we hung around to wait for them. When they came, we said our goodbyes before we took our stuff and went to our respectful hotels. That evening, I just grabbed a sandwich from a shop just downstairs from the hotel for dinner. The next morning, after breakfast, I caught the train back to Rome. In Rome, I had hoped to get in touch with the group leader for dinner, but it seems that he's been committed to some other events. Oh well. I was pretty tired and I needed to strategically repack my things. I had some trouble falling asleep, but eventually I did. In the morning, I got up early and caught the train to the airport.

When I finally, landed here and went through customs, the guy asked where I went. I said Italy.

He asked, "By yourself?"
Me: "Yes."
Him: "What was the purpose of your trip?"
Me: "Vacation"
Him: "What did I buy?"
Me: "Some shirts, chocolates, books, bags."
Him: "What brand of bags?"
Me: "Mandarina Duck."
Him: "Mandarina Duck? Is that an expensive brand?"
Me: "Not really, about $200."
Him: "Okay."

And away I went. I managed to escape. He neglected to ask how many bags I bought! ;-) Shhhhhhh!!!

For pics, the good, the bad and the ugly, you can find them here.