Italy 2014

Firenze, Italia - statuary on the Ponte Vecchio I had to dodge a few cars while standing in the middle of the road for this very quick shot. {:o) Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Rome, Italy - Giolitti Gelateria There were more than 100 gelato flavors from which to choose. And, if you weren't in the mood for gelato, there was a coffee bar, and a bar for cocktails! Now, I ask you, is that planning or what??!! {:o) Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Pompeii, Italy Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Choir on church steps in San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy What a wonderful surprise! All of a sudden, these young people started slowly gathering on the steps. At first, no one noticed. Then the director arrived and they began singing. It was absolutely one of the highlights of our day!! Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Milan, Italy Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is the home of the Last Supper. For obvious reasons, no photographs are allowed when in the viewing chamber. But, someone tried using a tablet and was firmly chastised by the guards and made to delete the image! Such a show of entitlement and disrespect for this magnificent religious art. When in the viewing chamber, only 15 people are permitted at one time. It was a breathtaking experience. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy San Gimignano and gelato - what more could one ask? Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Venice Italy - Venezia - This is such a typical canal scene. There is so much to see, enjoy, and experience in Veneza! One of my many favorite places in Italia! Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Greve in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy The view from our outdoor breakfast table at the Villa Bordoni. The Villa is a lovely place to stay in the breathtaking Chianti area of Tuscany. Impeccable service, outstanding foods, and gorgeous scenery. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Greve in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy Appetizer at the Villa Bordoni. The Villa is a lovely place to stay in the breathtaking Chianti area of Tuscany. Impeccable service, outstanding foods, and gorgeous scenery. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Venice, Italy I've seen plenty of street mimes in travels, but this had to be the oddest one ever!! This was one strange little dude!!! {:o) And, yes, he was looking directly at my camera .... {:o) Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Greve in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy I love the cobblestone streets of Tuscany. The way they wind through the villages. Walking, I never know what I will see around a corner, but I know I will so enjoy what I see and will want to capture for memories. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Rome, Italy I don't remember the name of this church (there were so many on our trip). The interior is spectacular and I hope I captured it well. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Rome, Italy Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Rome, Italy St. Peter's Basilica - difficult lighting circumstances, but you take what you can get. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Venice, Italy Our favorite restaurant, Hosteria Al Vecio Bragosso, serves the most delicious fresh seafood!! Our server, Enrico, is the sweetest, dearest young man who took exceptional care of us with every meal and made our visits at the hosteria one of the highlights of our trip and time spent in Venice. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Rome, Italy The Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Venice, Italy The Jesuit Church contains spectacular blue marble sculpture. Incredible works!! The church of Santa Maria Assunta, known as I Gesuiti, is a religious building in Venice, northern Italy. It is located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Campo dei Gesuiti, not far from the Fondamenta Nuove. According to some sources, the construction of the church was financed by a certain Pietro or, according to Doge Andrea Dandolo, by Cleto Gussoni in 1148 and was surrounded by grounds, bodies of water and wetlands. In 1154, Cleto turned it into a hospital for the poor who were ill, both men and women. Another Gussoni, by the name of Buonavere, relative and heir of Cleto, ultimately provided vineyards and some of his other estates in the districts of Chioggia and Pellestrina. In the monastery of I Gesuiti a member of the same family, Marco Gussoni, took his vows, miraculously cured by the then Blessed, later Saint Luigi Gonzaga. It is said that in 1601 Marco, struck down by a grave illness, was healed instantly on the invocation by the saint. However, on 1 August 1631 he contracted the plague and died in Ferrara while working to help the plague victims there; he became known as "uomo di somma pietà" (man of supreme mercy). A portrait of him entitled Marco Gussoni blessing the plague victims at the Lazzaretto of Ferrara is exhibited in Ca' Rezzonico. Saint Ignatius of Loyola visited the city of Venice for the first time in 1523 to embark on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He returned to I Gesuiti in 1535 with a group of friends, who already called themselves the Society of Jesus (members of which are referred to as Jesuits - Gesuiti in Italian), and here they were ordained as priests. It took just two years for the group to fully establish themselves in the lagoon of Venice and to gain a large following. They left for Rome in 1537. In 1606, due to the quarrels between Pope Paul V and Venice, the city was placed under interdiction, and as a consequence, the Jesuits were exiled until 1657. During these years, Venice was involved in a consuming war with the Ottoman Empire and Pope Alexander VIII decided to provide the services of the Betlemitani, an order created to assist the Knights of the Cross who were under the control of this pope. Venice then sold the whole estate to the Jesuits, including a church, a hospital and a convent, for fifty-thousand ducats. However, the Betlemitani church was not large enough for the Jesuits. So in 1715 they knocked it down and built their own temple. The church was given the name of Santa Maria Assunta (Mary after Assumption). It was financed by the Manin family; an aristocratic Friulan family from 1651. The church was consecrated in 1728. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen

Venice, Italy The Jesuit Church contains spectacular blue marble sculpture. Incredible works!! The church of Santa Maria Assunta, known as I Gesuiti, is a religious building in Venice, northern Italy. It is located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Campo dei Gesuiti, not far from the Fondamenta Nuove. According to some sources, the construction of the church was financed by a certain Pietro or, according to Doge Andrea Dandolo, by Cleto Gussoni in 1148 and was surrounded by grounds, bodies of water and wetlands. In 1154, Cleto turned it into a hospital for the poor who were ill, both men and women. Another Gussoni, by the name of Buonavere, relative and heir of Cleto, ultimately provided vineyards and some of his other estates in the districts of Chioggia and Pellestrina. In the monastery of I Gesuiti a member of the same family, Marco Gussoni, took his vows, miraculously cured by the then Blessed, later Saint Luigi Gonzaga. It is said that in 1601 Marco, struck down by a grave illness, was healed instantly on the invocation by the saint. However, on 1 August 1631 he contracted the plague and died in Ferrara while working to help the plague victims there; he became known as "uomo di somma pietà" (man of supreme mercy). A portrait of him entitled Marco Gussoni blessing the plague victims at the Lazzaretto of Ferrara is exhibited in Ca' Rezzonico. Saint Ignatius of Loyola visited the city of Venice for the first time in 1523 to embark on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He returned to I Gesuiti in 1535 with a group of friends, who already called themselves the Society of Jesus (members of which are referred to as Jesuits - Gesuiti in Italian), and here they were ordained as priests. It took just two years for the group to fully establish themselves in the lagoon of Venice and to gain a large following. They left for Rome in 1537. In 1606, due to the quarrels between Pope Paul V and Venice, the city was placed under interdiction, and as a consequence, the Jesuits were exiled until 1657. During these years, Venice was involved in a consuming war with the Ottoman Empire and Pope Alexander VIII decided to provide the services of the Betlemitani, an order created to assist the Knights of the Cross who were under the control of this pope. Venice then sold the whole estate to the Jesuits, including a church, a hospital and a convent, for fifty-thousand ducats. However, the Betlemitani church was not large enough for the Jesuits. So in 1715 they knocked it down and built their own temple. The church was given the name of Santa Maria Assunta (Mary after Assumption). It was financed by the Manin family; an aristocratic Friulan family from 1651. The church was consecrated in 1728. Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen