Italy Trip 2016 {Verona, Lake Como, Venice, and Milan!}

Mark and I got to go on another go away by ourselves over the Columbus Day Weekend....last year we went to Rome, this year we hit up another part of Italy. We flew into Milan, drove over to Verona where we got a nice AirBNB spot. It was a nice little central hub for our outings! We got to see Verona, Venice, the Lakes (Lake Como and Lake Garda), and a quick stop in Milan at the end! It was AMAZING and Gorgeous and SO nice to go out without the kids! :) :) :) There are so many places we want to see while we are here but there are just some that I'd rather not deal with the kids at. They would have been ok on this Italy trip but it was so much better without them :) :) :)

off with no kiddos!

It was such a gorgeous night!

flying over Seville!

Our first day we walked around Verona, which I loooved! Such a pretty little town! I loved walking around it.  It has a cute little river wrapping its way through the town....pretty bridges over the river and beautiful buildings lining it...old buildings everywhere, quaint little alleys, gorgeous doors, a cute little market in the plaza, and Juliet's balcony! And of course yummy food...and gelato!!!! The gelato was amazing on this trip. We had such a great day! 

writing our names on Juliet's wall :)

GORGEOUSNESS

The Arena in Verona

one of my favorite meals on our trip- polenta with meat stew! YUM

gotta have dessert....again ;) 

The next day we drove out to Lake Como...which was amazing!!! We started off in Varenna, took the ferry over to Belaggio, where we toured some beautiful gardens, then on over to Lenno, where we walked around the grounds of Villa del Balbienello, then ending the day back in Varenna for dinner!

Varenna was my favorite I think, it was the prettiest little town right on the water! So much color in the buildings, beautiful hills behind it, bell tower peaking out above the town, with cute little stepped passages leading to it. I loved walking around there! 

The Gardens in Bellagio were really pretty too!

We enjoyed walking around the Villa del Balbienello too...it's a cool estate on the edge of the water...it's been used in multiple films (including a 007 movie an a Star Wars movie). After we were done there we ate the BEST gelato while we waited for the ferry. I got an apple cinnamon scoop with a vanilla scoop...Oh.my.goodness...it was perfection ;) 

The ferry ride at the end was great because we got to watch the sunset over the lake. It was so gorgeous! 

The next day we took the train over to Venice...we spent all day there and it was AMAZING! We rode the ferry boat through the Grand Canal over to the Piazza San Marco. We toured the Doge's Palace, which was gorgeous, and went to the Bridge of Sighs through the Palace. 

After that we toured the St. Mark's Cathedral...which unfortunately didn't allow any pictures inside. It was so beautiful though! The ceiling was covered in gold mosaics...I got a few of the mosaics that were outside so just imagine this style covering the ENTIRE ceiling, leading down onto some of the columns. 

Next we headed over to the gondolas and took a ride through the canals...which was awesome!!! It was so peaceful and gorgeous!!! I looooved it. 

After that we just wandered around mostly, eating more gelato, going in more cathedrals, enjoying the beautiful side streets and canals. It was such a beautiful city! 

The last day we only had half a day before our flight home so we drove into Milan and did a quick tour of the cathedral there...which was breathtaking!!!! We went on the roof first, which was really amazing...the view was amazing, but the actual roof was even more amazing...the details on the spires was beautiful!

It was such an amazing trip and one of my favorites so far!!! I loooove Italy and have so many more places on my list to go there! It's such a gorgeous country...I love it all!!!