Palladio

I think I may have mentioned before that our town is home to the famous Andrea Palladio. He was a hugely influential architect from the 1500's. If you have ever heard of a Palladian Window or Arch -that is named after him! Our house that we live in here is designed from his architectural influence (it is over 400 years old - so quite close in age!). One of the coolest things that I had learned is that Thomas Jefferson actually built Monticello afer one of Palladio's buildings right here in Vicenza (it is called Villa Rotunda). Anyway - throughout our City, you can see his architectural marvels - beautiful!!

The Basilica Palladio

The Villa Rotunda (the inspiration for Monticello)

Way up on the hill in the background is Monte Berico

 

Amberg

After Bamberg, we went to Amberg to visit our other German "Home". It is also such a beautiful City and after being gone for so long and seeing it with fresh eyes, we really appreciated it a bit more (Bamberg was always our favorite, but our heart loves Amberg too). We had a great time, meeting up with friends and enjoying the area. We stayed in a beautifully renovated Hotel, which was actually an old prison (Yikes!). It was one of the coolest places. It is right in the city center and has so many of the original features. Very interesting and super fun!

The Hotel Hallway (you can see the cell doors)

Above the City, we took Kiwi for a hike on the Mariahilfberg!

"Ball and Chain" keys for the Hotel Door

Beautiful Amberg!

More Prison Hotel pics..

We got bread and butter for our snack :-)

The old Prison 

The door to our room

The breakfast area

It was so nice just to meander through the city with our friends!

Inside our room. The sink was the funniest! Kiwi loved it! We love that Dogs can go everywhere - even hotels!

 

Bamberg

If you have read our Blog before, you know that our heart is in Bamberg. We lived there for 6 years. The kids grew up there, and we have so many nice friends there. It is an amazing small city and brings us so much happiness. It was great to see old friends, visit old haunts, and just enjoy the time there!

The roses were in full bloom at the Rose Garden

Kiwi got lots of fun walks in with other dogs (walking with friends). It was the first time she ever went free on a path without a leash. It was so cute because when she got off the path, the other dogs would scold her to show her the way :-)

She loved it!

The old Rathouse (City Hall)

The Dom

Overlooking the City up by the castle!

So many delicious and yummy German Barbecues!

Our walks were one of our favorite things! Especially after living in a city this past year!

Mia in the Rose Garden

The Wheat was in full bloom

An adorable little display of Umbrellas

We were so excited to be in Bamberg!

Such a beautiful place!

 

Dachau

Mia has studied about the Holocaust and I thought since we were in the area, we should visit the Dauchau Concentration Camp Memorial. Mia had lots of questions, but I was really surprised at how much she already knew. Truly a sobering place.