Italy Adventures - Venice

Happy Italy Tuesday! Thank you for joining me as I re-cap our trip to Italy. Today, we are heading to Venice. 

Founded by refugees escaping invasions from the Huns, Venice has been around since the 4th century. It is built on wooden piles which were pounded deep into the mud where they were protected from oxygen and the decay that it can bring. 

As soon as we arrived in Venice we boarded Water Taxis for a tour of the Grand Canal.

We saw beautiful churches, amazing architecture....

...and the most beautiful bridges I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. Above is the Rialto Bridge, the oldest bridge spanning the Grand Canal.

Here is the Basilica Di Santa Maria Della Salute.

I so enjoyed the baroque style architecture found throughout Venice.

After our Water Taxi tour, we boarded a Gondola to see the quieter canals of the city.

There are only about 400 Gondoliers (Gondola operators) in Venice, it is a coveted and very well paid profession.

In such a tourist intensive city, it was nice to escape into the more peaceful areas of Venice.

We did get to explore the non-water streets of Venice. Did you know Venice is made up of over 100 islands all connected by bridges? There are no cars allowed on most of the islands.

With Venice sinking 1-2 millimeters a year, while sea levels rise, the area is prone to flooding. Taller structures are starting to lean a bit like the church tower above.

One of the most beautiful sights are the reflections you find in the canals.

Venice was one of my more "photo/video" intensive cities, so the video is a bit long:

I'll be back on Friday to show you Lido, the island of Venice where we stayed!

Thanks for tagging along!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

 

Sunny Smiles

 

Why yes, I AM a very good girl Mama....

I am smiling because June, or what I call "Vet Month" is just about over!

The first week of June I went to see Dr. N, my therapist (aka Behaviorist), for my biannual visit. He said I was doing pretty good except I am still a little too grumpy sometimes.

Then last week I visited my regular dogtur and she told Mama all my bloodwork looked fine EXCEPT my thyroid was hypo something and my levels were very low. The Vet said this may be why I am extra grumpy.

All I know, is I am sick of dogturs (and I think Mama is too)!

Mama says we will fill you in on my silly thyroid once we know what exactly is going on. 

We're also joining Comedy Plus for the 

Awww Monday Blog Hop!

FFF and Nature Friday Arcee Adventure

 

Welcome to the wonderful Friday each month where Nature Friday comes together with YAM Aunty's FFF!!  Make sure to visit YAM Aunty HERE to get the Rulez and join the FFF fun!! 

Welcome to Nature Friday where we get to meet new friends and share a picture or two of what nature looks like around Blogville. Today we are taking a break from Italy and heading to Northern New Mexico, Los Ojos to be exact, where we went camping with ArCee last weekend.

We stayed at the Stonehouse Lodge, an RV Park in Los Ojos, NM. 

That's ArCee on the left, and the other RVs in this picture are part of Mama and Daddy's RV Club. 

The park has beautiful views. Unfortunately it was VERY hot, so we only got to go on a few walkies during the daytime.

The most favorite thing I saw during our trip was RV Park chickens!!!

I was amazed to see RV Park chickens actually have FEATHERS....I always thought all chickens were like the ones we have at home....You know,  dehydrated and covered in plastic ziploc bags. 

Then Mama told me these were egg-laying RV Park chickens. Well that explains why they look so different from dehydrated chickens we have at home.

Since it was so hot, Sunny spent a lot of time bird watching.....

I think this flamingo was her favorite bird (to bark at). Probably because it didn't run away when she barked, BOL!

Bird watching is fun, but I sure hope our next camping spot is a bit cooler so we can go out for more walkies! 

Thanks for tagging along for our short trip to Northern New Mexico. It was nice to spend some family time in ArCee, even if it was warm.

We hope all our friends get to experience some nature this weekend!

Show us your nature! It can be flowers, your current weather, a scene out of your window, or maybe a picture from a vacation, walk or other journey! Any kind of nature picture will do! If you don't see a link below, click HERE  to go to our Hoppity Page.

Icy Thankfuls

 

It's that time of year when I put in my request for lots of water,  ICY cube water is my favorite!

Yum!!!

I am so thankful Mama makes me my own special bowl of ICY cube water every day!

(Click on the picture to see how much I love ICY cube water!)

Thank you to Maxwell and Angel Brian for hosting the

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

BWW - Rockin' Robyn

This Spring (through the lens of TC) we have been watching Miss Robyn, an American Robin who must have been injured, who lost the use of one claw.  She proves that even when you have and injury, you can still have a good time:

Rock on Robyn!!

She sure is having a good time in that fountain...even if she has an injured claw!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop this week!

 

Italy Adventures - Assisi and Verona

Happy Italy Tuesday! Thank you for joining me as I re-cap our trip to Italy. After we left the southern coastal region of Italy, we headed northeast towards Venice. We stopped for the night in the town of Assisi in the Central Umbria region of Italy.

As you drive through Italy, you'll see a bunch of villages/towns located on hilltops like Assisi (above). I guess having the advantage of being "on higher ground" really does matter when you are defending a city. Being from a "young" country like the US, I didn't much think of things like this. 

While in Assisi we visited the Basilica of San Francesco D'Assisi, including the Assisi Cathedral. The most impressive thing about visiting this Basilica is that there is no talking (or photography) allowed while inside. The rule itself wasn't the most impressive part...this rule applied while visiting Cathedrals and Basilicas throughout Italy. But, the "no talking" rule was rarely enforced. In this Basilica, the Franciscan Friars themselves strongly enforced the rules.  I have to admit, it was hard to talk anyway as I was in awe of the beauty and history that surrounded me.

After finishing our tour, we walked through the Piazza Inferiore de San Francesco.

...and admired some local architecture! 

After our Assisi visit, we were whisked off to our hotel for the night where dinner, a colorful sunset sunset and dreamland awaited.

We hit the road early the next morning to make the long trek north to

Venice Along the way, we made a stop for lunch in the romance capitol of Italy (and the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet), 

 Verona!

Porta Borsari, one of the most well preserved gates of Verona. It was built in the first century AD. The whole trip it repeatedly amazed me to be walking in such historic areas.

The Arena di Verona is another one of Italy's well preserved colosseums. Built in 30AD it is older than Rome's colosseum and 

is still in use today as an Arena for Opera and classical performances. 

Historic Verona is surrounded on three sides by the scenic Adige River.

Again, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the architecture was just amazing.

We ate lunch right behind the Torre dei Lamberti, built in 1172. The arches, the staircase, the stone...just wow!

More architecture, and more than a few doors can be found below in the video I put together this week:

I do appreciate your reading (and watching the videos) and virtually tagging along with us!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

In Aaawww of da Teefies

Why yes Mama...my teefies are looking pretty good. Thanks for brushing them every night to make sure they stay whiter than white.

It's very important to be able to give your adoring fans a sparkly smile!!

We're also joining Comedy Plus for the 

Awww Monday Blog Hop!