The Allisons

Friends Forever

Strangely enough, four of our closest friends were in Italy at the same time. Shelah and Michael Clonts were taking another European vacation to Greece and Italy and Matthew and Cathy McMichael were finally going on their honeymoon after getting married in Jan..
The McMichaels flew into Verona where Mom and I met them and we spent a few hours sightseeing. Then we all took the train back home and we hung out for a couple of days before they left from Venice on their week-long cruise to Greece, Corfu, and Turkey. This first picture on the upper left was taken at a restaurant near our house "Al Giardino" (The Garden). Mike was at his exercise in Maniago while they were here the first time.
The Clonts' flew into Greece and spent about a week vacationing there and in Santorini. Then they flew to Rome for a couple of days and then flew into Venice to spend a few days visiting with us and seeing some of northern Italy.
We picked the Clonts' up from the airport and then met the McMichaels at the train station. We rented a 9 passenger van that was the object of constant scorn. It was so ghetto. But it did get us up the mountain to some castle ruins near our house. The second picture is all of us at Lake Barcis. (I love this pic!) It was a little chilly so we just stayed long enough to snap some pictures and enjoy the scenery. Look at that water!
The 3rd picture is all of us in the little square by our favorite pizza joint, Vecchios. We are sitting on a wall and directly behind and below us is a rushing creek. It's a great little place to enjoy some pizza, grab some gelato across the street and listen to the water. The other picture is the same place. It's just us being silly. Although, when Shelah grabbed me, I was pretty sure we were both going in. :) As if you can't tell by the look of terror on my face. :)
The last picture is us in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.
We had such a great time, and it was so good to see faces from home. And for all of us to hang out in Italy? That's not something everyone gets to do. We were so blessed to enjoy this time together with our friends.