Mia is 16!!

Mia turned 16!! It is truly unbelievable to me that she is so old! I still think of her as 3 (no - I truly do!! ha - ha!). She is an amazing kid with such kindness, talent, artistic ability, and intelligence. Not to mention, she is beautiful - both inside and out! (and now for even more bragging.....She is attending college classes here and has become a nail artist influencer with over 700 thousand followers - yikes... all while her crazy parents uprooted her and moved to another continent during a global pandemic). We love you so much, Mia!! Happy Birthday!

16 in Italy! (She doesn't really like it, but just one for the memory books :-)

Gotta love the candle!! (we were a little worried it might burn down the 400 year old house!) Ha Ha!

Mia testing her new contacts - Sight is something easily taken for granted!!

16 gifts for 16 years!!

Happy Birthday!!

16 years old!!

 

Lazise - Lago di Garda

Another amazing town on Lake Garda is that of Lazise. It is another town with a castle on the water (truly amazing what they built so long ago - yet our buildings don't seem to last 50 years??) We braved it once again and had lunch at a restaurant with Kiwi. She did so well and the people were so nice! They even brought her a water bowl to sit beside her. She is such a trooper! 

An adorable little town!

Feeling a bit like she should have her own spot at the table!

adorableness every where you turn!

another dog beside us, that Kiwi could relate to! :-)

l

feeling a bit defeated!

Mia!!

Such a pretty castle!!

With Covid - we just were given the green light to leave our town again - with the crowds, I worry it might not last long!

Kiwi posing in front of the "grounds"

Mia and Kiwi!

begging Mia to save her from sitting still - that or begging for food :-)

Aperol Spritz is the quintessential part of an Italian experience! Kiwi knew it would be a bit longer!

Still patiently waiting :-) Such a great dog!

 

Sirmione - Lago di Garda

On the bottom tip of Lake Garda, there is a tiny town called Sirmione. We had been here before several years ago, but loved returning and just meandering a bit. We walked out to the very end Oof the peninsula. n a clear day, you see the Dolomites off in the distance. So many colors of blue and turquois in the water depending on the way the sun hits. We saw people laying in the water (a bit cold for early May). Bryan could see steam coming up and it turns out there is a natural thermal bath area. The people there told us to join them - (very kind), but will take a rain check. It is such a beautiful place!!!

The thermal bath is just in front of this dock by the shore....

Kiwi was a trooper!

It almost looks fake!

We loved this little dog watching the ducks...

You can see the water change a bit with the sun shining down

One side of the peninsula was rough water and the other side was still (just like in Florida where we live - it depends on how the wind is blowing)

Beautiful!

Vino!

Aperol!

 

Bomba Day

Sunday was "Bomba Day"! About a month ago, they were working at a construction site near us and they discovered a World War 2 Bomb that never exploded. Due to its proximity near a nursing home and a hospital, and all that is going on with Covid - it took a lot of planning for the big day - "Bomba Day", when they could safely evacuate half the city for the entire day and diffuse the bomb and remove it. The directions were that everyone needed to leave their homes by 8:00 am at the latest and would not be able to return for the entire day. We were definitely surprised at 6:45 am, when all of the internet and electricity was turned off - leaving many with electric garage door openers (including ourselves) in a real pickle). Luckily, with the help of a police officer, we were able to get our car out and began our evacuation day on Lake Garda. We were so grateful that Kiwi behaved and it did not rain. All in all - "Bomba Day" was an experience to tell the Grandchildren about - so funny!!

Kiwi in our car - excited to see what the day will bring!

Removing the bomb - took the entire day - pretty crazy to think that this has been here - in the ground -  for over 70 years!!

Crazy!!

 

Montagnana

 We drove to a walled city called, Montagnana on Saturday. It is an adorable  town and like many around this area, it gets little fanfare because of the neighboring highlights, such as Venice and Verona. It is very calm and quiet, but absolutely stunning and truly amazing that it still stands in tact after all of these years. A fun and relaxing afternoon, just walking around eating lunch, and of course gelato!

On the way, we say this miniature Eiffel Tower - so funny to see in the middle of nowhere!

Bryan and Mia outside the walled City (we are still required to wear masks everywhere (even outside)

The main entrance to the city...

Delicious!

Amazing that this place isn't even a major highlight in the tourist books!

I drive Mia crazy with all of my pictures! She joked that that is one of the downfalls of being the "only child" - ha ha!

Yummy Lunch!

We love all of the little shops everywhere!

And of course Gelato!!

Me trying to be artistic with my photo :-)

Beautiful Montagnana! (inside the wall)