Venice

We took our dog to Venice! She had such a fun time. Even though she hates water (crazy - I know - especially being a water dog). She was definitely careful not to ever get too close to the edge - ha ha! She loved sniffing all of the smells, walking the canal streets, and seeing the other dogs (surprisingly there are a lot there). We had a great day!

Relaxing in St. Mark's square - but being very careful not to get too close to the water :-)

At at the train station :-)

We found a nice German couple to take our picture (so we didn't have to do a selfie :-))

Kiwi loved meeting all of the other dogs

She didn't even mind posing for pictures 

Taking it all in...

Being a little flirtatious with the Gondolier

Lots of delicious smells down the narrow alleyways - ha ha!

 

Lipari

 We spent 4 nights on the island of Lipari, which is the largest of the Aeolian Islands. The highlight of this for us was actually the experience we had with our hotel. The owner of the hotel was so hard working. He grew up on the island and was a such a gem! He was our host, driver, tour guide, cappuccino maker, ferry boat booker, restaurant chef and over all everything! He spoke no English - so we managed miraculously somehow. Another fun experience for sure!

The view over looking the island of Volcano in the distance (you can see the gasses coming from the crater). Our Hotel Host took us to this spot to get the best picture!

Delicious Food!

Yum!!

Scrumptious!

Our Hotel Host took us to another spot that is a gem. There is a little chapel here and the backside of the chapel overlooks 5 of the islands in a panoramic view - breathtaking!!

A cemetery at the top of the castle area

The harbor

You can never go wrong with Panini

The island of Volcano off in the distance

The back side of the Chapel - it again reminded us of Greece

Hi little fella!

Had to take lots of selfies - ha ha!

The little dot of Sun setting - simply beautiful!

Vulcano

So Stromboli was the highlight, but the island of Vulcano was a close second! This island has not erupted in over 100 years, but the the Volcanic gasses still exist and the Saturday before we arrived, were listed to be stronger than normal. We were worried that it wouldn't be safe to climb up. For this island, you didn't need a guide - just street smarts to stay away from the gas. It was overcast and very windy. I had read that between the dust and heat - it is best not to wear contacts and were glad we didn't. The water even has natural Vulcanic Springs with warm water. The Sulfur smell can be very strong, but it luckily wasn't too bad for us. Another fascinating island!

You can see the group sitting in the heat of the Vulcanic Water

Here you can see the water bubbling - we just stuck our feet in :-)

At the top of the Volcano is huge crater, you can see the gasses from the earth

Sticking our feet in the Vulcanic Heated Water

A better view of the crater

Making our way up to the top!

You can see a few of the other islands off in the distance

Such an amazing place and such a cool experience!