Seeing that One-Legged Stool

The third leg of the vacation was to Coltura (and other places) to spend time with my nonno's family. Coltura is in the Trentino region and very different, with the Dolomites rising up around you. I love this place! Here are the pics...    

This is the second post for Lazise, with pictures and explanations. During this part of the trip we saw Lazise, Bardolino, Sirmione, and Verona. Belissima!  I mean, how cute are these two? Ada on the left, Rosetta in the center. Love them both! This was after our first meal in Lazise, lunch at Rosetta's house.  Mom brought a bunch of old photos Gma had and got Rosetta to identify a lot of the people. While this was happening Sarah and I cleaned up dinner, and very fast, because the Italians never let us clean! In Bardolino. It was really hard to get Rosetta to stand still and smile at the same time... this is one of the very few where she's doing both! It was a beatiful day and this is one of my favorite pictures. We had dinner all together at Christina's hotel. Christina made a bunch of different pizzas and we had German beer. Mom and Sarah in front of the arena in Verona. It's like the colusseum in Roma, but on a smaller scale and better preser...

On day five of the trip we woke up very early (but not early enough) to take a train from Milano Centrale to Peschiera del Garda, the closest stop to Lazise. We were running behind and we had the huge suitcases that were so heavy that I decided it would just be better to take a cab to the station. We went to the cab stand and I pressed the button but nothing happened for about 5 minutes and now I'm getting really worried because my mother is stressed and projecting that stress on Sarah and myself... and I'm not used to this stress level after 4 months in Italy! Anyways I then call the cab number and a cab shows up in 5 minutes and we make it to the station with 40 minutes to spare. Piece of cake! We take the train to Peschiera where Rosetta greets us with her grandson Luca and his friend Toni... and the waterworks begin! My mom is crying and then Rosetta is crying and then I'm crying... so typical. We then proceeded to have an amazing next four days with Rosetta! Here is a...

My mom and Sarah, my cousin, arrived on the 13th of April for a week and a half (during my spring break) for vacation and we had an AMAZING time. The vacation was divided into three parts: Milano (and Venezia), Lazise (and Bardolino and Verona), and Coltura (and Trento). These cities correspond with my living place, my grandma's family, and my nonno's family. In just 12 days we saw Milano, Venezia, Lazise, Verona, Bardolino, Sirmione, Ragoli, Coltura, Trento, Madonna di Campiglio, Ponte Arche, and Algone. PHEW! In my opinion, vacations with my mother are never really relaxing and this proved to be no exception. So, Milano and Venezia (Venice). I think it's easier to describe with pictures. With Ernesta, my grandma's cousin, and Ilaria, her niece. At breakfast one morning with our cappucci and brioche. Fish market we stumbled upon in Venice. So interesting! I had some questions so I found the oldest lady near me and she helped clear everything up. Tip #1 fro...

While I've been here I have had the amazing opportunity to go to La Scala twice! The first time was for an opera performance but it wasn't really a typical opera. This was a special performance by one man (a tenor, I believe?) who was invited to give this performance by the really important opera-world people, as I understand it. Kasia, my roommate who studies music/opera performance, said that to perform there is the ultimate recognition you can receive as a opera singer. Also, fun fact, this guy is AMERICAN! So it was just him and the pianist, which I was a little skeptical about at the beginning. I was afraid I would not be able to stay focused for however many hours this performance was about to be with only a piano, pianist and the singer. This fear was completely unwarranted, though, because the concert was absolutely amazing! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! We also had really good seats on the floor that were not that expensive (in my opinion) considering...