lilycli

Ray and I just got back from Italy, where my cousin brought us and his girlfriend on a tour of art, history, and food. We visited Milan, Verona, Venice (including Murano and Burano), Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Florence, Pisa, Luca, Tivoli (Hadrian’s Villa), Rome, and the Vatican. While every city has its charm, Florence is my favorite — being the birthplace of Renaissance, home of Dante and Michelangelo, and residence of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. Besides, it’s hard not to fall in love with Michelangelo’s David.

My cousin is an art history student and a foodie with passion for traveling. It would be hard pressed to find another guide who shares my interests as he does, so I suspect that we either got lucky or the love for art and food runs in the family. He introduced the cities by bringing us to their world-class museums and authentic local foods. I’m in love with the art of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini, Raphael, and Botticelli. My understanding of Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, and baroque art styles improved dramatically, so are my grasp of their historical context and the Catholic religion. On the food front, the wine, tiramisu, lasagna, gnocchi, and fettuccine were the best I ever had. It was also good to try squid ink pasta, cuddle fish, Florentine steak, and the list goes on. In term of sight-seeing, we covered as many major sites in each city as time allows, and got a sense of “local life” by accompanying my cousin on some of his errands.

The trip was fun (even though I lost my purse and got food poisoned) and it was great hanging out with the cousin I grew up with but haven’t seen for years. But I’m happy to be back. A disconcerting amount of work is waiting for me… 

I wore Kurisu shirt to work on Halloween, and my friend linked me this picture. Oh, the things I say…