Ciao Bella!

Because we were in Europe, had a rental car, and a few days without a specific itinerary, we simply could not resist the urge to head south once again to Italy. So early on Tuesday morning, we hit the road and made our way up and over the Alps into Italy. Part of the motivation for the long car ride was sparked because Jon's cousin has been stationed in Vicenza for the past three years and we were about the catch them during their last week before they headed back to the US.

out to dinner with Aly and Zack

After 9 hours of driving we arrived in Vicenza! Jon's cousin Aly, and her husband Zack took us out to their favorite restaurant. It's just hard to go wrong with Italian food. Truffles are the specialty of that region, so we enjoyed some decadent Italian cuisine, followed by gelato, of course! 

We also good advantage of the fact we were 45 minutes away from Venice and spent a few hours wandering around the easy-to-get-lost-on streets, eventually finding all the major bridges, Piazza San Marco and topping it off with a ride on the Venice public transit system (based on ferries, not trains) down the grand canal.

lovin' the beautiful and charming venice

the rialto bridge in the background

looking out from piazza san marco

on the rialto

public transit ride

From there we headed north back into the Alps, close to Austrian-Italian border (which has shifted many times over the years leaving it an interesting mesh of Ger-talian style). We found a home for a night in the sleepy mountain town of Merano, a place described by Jon's cousin Aly, as the "garden of eden", and it was indeed. Since we had been staying with friends a few nights we decided to splurge a little on accommodations, and stayed at a beautiful hotel with amazing views of the Alps and the town below. We spent that morning at the hot springs that the town is known for, which was the perfect way to unwind for the morning before we hit the road and headed Northeast back to Prague. 

view from the hotel julianne

merano

the outdoor portion of the hot springs had pools of all different temperatures and you can see how it runs right into this pond with the cute little turtles.

the indoor section of the hot springs