Italy!

I was invited to judge the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club d'Italia's specialty show in Trissino, Italy. Wow! They had a fabulous show, magnificent showgrounds and the nicest people on the planet....not to mention some fantastic Ridgebacks! I only took my iPad and iPhone, so all these photos are taken with one of them. I think you'll see the scenery is so lovely, you just don't notice the drop in picture quality.

We flew into Venice, then took a train to Vicenza for the night. The next day we took a walking tour of the town. Here's Margaret taking a photo in a campo the first night.

We took a taxi to Trissino where we stayed at a lovely hotel called Ca Masaeri. This is photo of the building we  stayed in. Great owners and fabulous restaurant!

A view of the surrounding oountryside.

Best Dog and Best Bitch Winners. 

The show grounds were situated below this lovely ruin.

Above: the gate to the upper Villa and the front of the Villa itself where they had a dinner for all the exhibitors followning the show.

After the show, we went to Venice for a few days. Here's cousin Margaret in front of The Bridge of Sighs.

Locanda Poste Veche

Our cute little balcony off our room in Venice. 

The view of the Grand Canal from Accademia Bridge

Busy canal looking toward St Mark's Square

Rialto Bridge

St Mark's

St Mark's

Clock tower at St Mark's Square in Venice

The canal crossing outside our hotel in Venice

We took the train from Venice to Rome. A lovely view of the countryside.

Our hotel in Rome was about 2 blocks away from the Coliseum and the Forum

On the Coliseum grounds: Think this is the Arch of Constantine

In the Roman Forum. They were certainly fond of these fantastic arches!

Forum

Outside the Forum we came across this Living Statue, who would pose for photos and do different poses.

Took this from a taxi. Great shot of Italian government building.

We signed up for a 4 hour tour of the Vatican, Sistine chapel and St Peter's Here's where we started.

In the Vatican Museum courtyard.

A view of Rome from the Vatican Museum

One of many beautiful mosaics on the floors of the Museum

One of thousands of frescoes! This one was in some Pope's private quarters.

Part of the hallway between the summer and winter quarters of one of the Popes

Ceiling inside St Peter's. It's huge!

The Baptismal in St Peter's Cathedral with pointing of Jesus being baptized by Peter.

Michangelo's Pieta. This was as close as you could get. It's behind glass as some crazy person tried to hack it to pieces.

Ceiling in one of the Papal apartments.

Outside St Peter's. You don't realize just how huge this church is until to see how tiny all those people are!

From St Peter's looking out on to the Square. Two football fields long.

The Swiss Guards in their outfits by Michangelo. They guard the entrance to Vatican City next to St Peter's

The trip was one of a lifetime. I'm so thankful I got to go and that my cousin, Margaret, got to go with me. We are still jet lagged, but slowly coming out of it'