In September I had the good fortune to be in Italy and it just plain made me feel good. We began in Milan for a few days and I was so impressed by the positive activity and commerce everywhere we walked. There were no "going out of business" signs, no sales, no "for let" spaces peppering each block and I have never seen so many shopping bags being carried about. Nearly everyone was dressed "to the nines" and looking employed, well fed and housed. Having just been in Ireland the week before, it was a pretty sharp contrast. The hotels and restaurants were all packed and finding a taxi was a bit of a wait. I checked if there was a big market in town, but it was just business as usual.
From Milan, we took the train to Florence and I expected that things would be less hectic there, but again, Firenze was nicely full and the merchants were all enjoying great business. My point in writing this is that it has been a while since we have seen or felt this kind of activity at home and it just felt good to see that it was happening somewhere. It gave me hope and allowed me to enjoy my trip completely.
Italy has such wonderful spirit, art, architecture, food and style. I am so lucky to be able to experience these exciting parts of the world from time to time and share my good fortune in stories and photos. Here are a few examples of the sights of Italy.