Thursday, October 21, 2010

Dream Trip

We've just come home from a dream trip, 8 days in Italy, 5 in Antwerp and the Netherlands. Not a long trip, but packed with wonderful experiences. We went to Italy with our friends Gwen and Norm, who had never been to Italy before, so Bill and I were the guides. We began in Rome, then drove to Country House Montali in the midst of Umbria, took day trips to Panicale (our wedding locale), Assisi, Pienza, and the Abbey of Sant'Antimo. Final 3 days were in Florence. Then we all flew from Pisa to Amsterdam and split up, Bill and I travelling by train down to Antwerp, where we spent 3 nights tasting gourmet food and exploring the city's beautiful museums and churches. We picked up a car in Breda and drove through the southern part of the Netherlands looking for the places where my Dutch ancestors lived: Den Bosch, Almkerk, Woudrichem, Heusden, Noorderloos, Laeckervelt, Lexmond, and Vianen, and then we finished out our trip by staying the last night in Utrecht, a gorgeous city of canals and more gorgeous architecture.

Now we're back in glorious Guilford in the height of autumn colors. Back to projects for the Guilford Preservation Alliance, the Guilford Citizens for Responsible Development, and the Guilford Poets Guild. So what else is new??!