ITALY!!!!!!

For Christmas this year, Josh gave me a trip to Italy.  This gift was so unexpected!  (A long back story: I have always been fascinated with Europe.  I had the opportunity to go with our High School music department (band and orchestra) when I was 18.  We went to Germany, Switzerland and Austria and I loved it!  When we were in Austria, we were about a 10 minute train ride from Italy and thought about taking the train over there just so we could say we were there, but by the time we thought of it, we were worried about making it back in time to catch our bus, so we decided not to do it.  Fast forward a few years to college: After not being able to continue taking Spanish classes, my friend persuaded me [I can be easily persuaded at times] to take Italian with her.  I fell in love with the language and have wanted to go to Italy ever since.)  Josh said we would go for our 15th Anniversary, but we decided to buy a new house instead.  No big deal.  I kind of assumed and resigned myself to the fact that we would probably never go.  So when Josh was trying to decide what to get me for Christmas, he had the thought of giving me a trip to Italy.  It ended up being the perfect time to do it, and we enjoyed every second of the trip and would do it again in a heartbeat.  So hold on to your hats for the next few posts while I recount the trip.