Into My Snow Globe

Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered).  Last installment to the Viva Italia series and I can't believe I finally made it! The Roman Colosseum

The other night, I caught a glimpse of Amanda Seyfried ham it up in "Letters to Juliet" while my squeaky, underutilized brain feverishly tried to make sense of the pie and bar charts I was churning at half a snail's pace. It wasn't really her or the sorry excuse for a love interest she had in that movie that caught my eye, but the setting in which they were placed.  In that moment I braved to look at the TV screen, they were walking across the Siena Piazza where the bi-annual Palio races are held. Siena Piazza - Yoohoo Amanda?

Florence, or Firenze in Italian is possibly my favorite stop of all.

The trains in Italy are notoriously late. Sometimes it can be as bad as an hour late similar to what happened to us. Apparently this was very commonplace as only the tourists were panicking.  When the trains do arrive to take passengers for the next trip, there is no mad scramble as you would expect. Everyone just goes about their business in the most normal fashion ever. It was just another day for the train to be late. With each ticket, you get an assigned seat number and will be surprised to find someone already sitting in it once you get there. In fairness, they will move over the minute you gesture that they've taken your seat -- I guess many Italians just prefer to chance their arm for a better view. We reached Venice at dusk, it was a good evening to be where we were.

Last night, I was watching the latest episode of Top Chef and the long discussion on risotto reminded me of our trip to Milan and their unique risotto. Mmmm... yummmm... Milanese Risotto and Osso Bucco