The vineyard when we left Italy.

The Mediterranean Sea in Genova.

This is in Juliet's Garden. Some of the visitors must not read English or Italian!

The Princess and the Castle.

Amber and Adam in Juliet's Garden in Verona.

In Italy, when you get to what we call an intersection...you really don't turn left or right...you just get in a " roundabout" and take the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd exit. The 1st exit would be what we call a right-hand turn, the 3rd exit would be what we call a left-hand turn. The 2nd exit would essentially be going straight through the intersection. And if you take the 4th exit...you have made a U-turn. This is in the middle of one roundabout in Montichiari.

Looking out Adam's kitchen window, and looking at the Kiwi gazeebo and fig tree.

The Kiwi Gazeebo in Adam's back yard.

Breakfast at Sydnee's.

In Italy, taking out the trash is so much fun!!!!

Having fun on the train ride back from Venice.

PIGEONS!!!! in San Marco Square in Venice.

No more shopping Amber!!! Venice.

Is anybody home? Venice.

My men on a bridge in Venice.

Neighbor Paolo, with the Texas-sizes shot glass and Adam with the Italian wine glass.

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2 gondolas...in love! And the jilted power boat tucking his tail and running away.

Ahhh, Venice, just outside of the train station.

Welcome to Adam's home

in Montichiari, Italy.

Yes, it is sad but true, Muench Bunch!

What does an electrician take a picture of, when in Italy? But of course, he takes a picture of his son's electrical box at his house.

Seriously...this is a Porsche tractor. How fast will it go? This is the picture that I got in trouble for taking..."It's impossible for me to take this picture!"

E' amore! The man, the rose,...and the GELATO!

Ivy has to take her shift holding the Tower, also.

Wow, that pasta will really make ya grow!

Now, it's Amber's turn to hold up the Tower.

Adam's turn to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Amber's "im-personating" a mannikin in her new Italian dress.

We could not figure this one out...How did the driver get out of the truck, after he parked it?

We are in Parma (of Parmasean Cheese fame). After we would park the car, we would take a picture of the streets where we parked, so we would not loose our chariot. See here we are parked on Garibaldi Street. Pretty smart, eh?

Juliet's (of Romeo and Juliet fame) balconey in Verona.

My He-Man in Pisa.

Amber in the rose garden. Enough about the rose garden, already!!! But, you know what? I TOTALLY enjoyed just sitting in the rose garden in the morning, drinking coffee, listening to the birds and the sounds of the small town waking up each morning, and hearing the Church bells proudly ringing every hour for a long time and every 1/2 hour for a short time, and pulling weeds that are in the rose garden...in ITALY!

Another rose on the same bush.

A beautiful rose from that multi-colored rose bush.

Adam's Rose garden. This particular bush has 3-4 different colors of roses...all on 1 bush.

Looking out of Adam's front door.

Adam's Vinyard...5 grape vines in his side yard.

Kiwi Gazebo in Adam's back yard.

The Fig trees are loaded with these huge figs. They are actually ripe now(late June). He needs

Grandmaw's recipe for Fig Perserves.

Fig trees in Adam's huge yard and neighbor Atillio, Cesara and Paolo's house.

Wayne having his morning coffee on Adam's front porch.

The cathedral,as seen from Adam's balconey, in the town center is dedicated to S. Maria Assunta and for its size and importance dominates Piazza Garibaldi. The laying of the first brick occurred on 5th September 1729. In 1765, to complete the frontispiece, the statue of the Assunta was placed in the middle, the one of S. Giorgio south and that of S. Pancrazio north. In 1785 the strong dome that was terminated in 1796 was risen, and it was enriched of a precious statue of the blessing redeemer in golden copper.

The Bonoris Castle in Montichari, as seen from Adam's upsatirs balcony. It is 4 blocks from Adam's house.

The Bonoris Castle was originally built around 1000 AD. It was demolished in 1168, then rebuilt in 1890 by the Brescian Count Gaetano Bonoris.

This is why we went to Italy! To see my boy...oh and to have pizza also. Linus Pizza. Adam says it is the best!

3 peas in a pod, on the train, going to Venice.

Smart, but little, car. They will be in America in 1-2 years and cost $12,000-$17,000.

About 9 months ago, Adam told us that he was going to get transferred to Italy. The FIRST thing that I thought was, "Wow, how fantastic for him and us! He gets to experience something that most people only dream of, AND we will get to go to Italy sometime in the next year!" Well, we did go just last month and it was a trip of a lifetime...at the time. We did absolutely enjoy seeing Adam and the fabulous life that he has created for himself. And we totally enjoyed being in a different life and culture. I now do not think of our trip to Italy as a trip of a lifetime...because I KNOW that we will go back and explore more and experience more about the Italian/European life. I now think of that trip as the 1st of many trips to come!

Enclosed are SOME of my favorite pictures from our "Inaugeral Trip of a Lifetime."