a few pictures from a recent road trip to Italy...
We drove through the Dolomites, but the weather wasn't so cooperative. We did catch glimpses though.
We stayed in Asolo for a few nights, and from there visited some lovely Palladio villas.
This one is the Villa Barbaro at Maser:
It has stunning frescoes by Veronese, of which one was not supposed to take photos. I couldn't help sneaking some though.
We rented an apartment on the Grand Canal in Venice. The view from there was like something from a Canaletto painting.
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These are incredible! How lucky you were to be in such gorgeous places. And a big thank you for sneaking some photos of these frescoes!
Thank you for sharing!
There are a few more fresco photos I'd like to show you.
This one with musicians is again from the Villa Barbaro.
These surreptitious pics don't do justice to the marvelous trompe l'oeil effects in the frescoes.
This is the Villa Emo, also by Andrea Palladio, but with frescoes by an artist named Zelotti.
glad you enjoyed the pics
It makes me wish that I could visit Italy again........We were there in the summer of 2013. It was very strenuous for me and I doubt that I will get to go again. It's just too hard to get around.
Thank you so much!
Here's a shot of the lovely town of Asolo.
This was the view looking the other way, towards the Rialto bridge.
Spring is a nice time to go, when everything is blooming and it's not yet too hot, and when there aren't yet very many tourists. We do feel lucky, indeed. We live in Switzerland, so it's great to be able to get in the car and drive down there.
Lucky you. During the Bushie boy years my dentist was talking about emigrating to Switzerland. His mother was born in Ireland so he was eligible to get an Irish passport. He retired during Obama years and I wonder if on election night 2016 he reactivated his plan.
I have been seriously thinking about a move to France. Also retired. I have friends in Paris, Lyon, and Aix en Provence. Did you move from US recently or been in Switzerland for some time?
and moved to Switzerland permanently in 1985.
All the best to you in your endeavors! I know you live in a beautiful place on the Atlantic coast, but retiring to France is an alluring prospect!
And I love that first image of the Dolomites. I can really sense the cold, and the hardness of the terrain. The subtle coloration in the rock, and the subtle differences in light are gorgeous. And it is beautifully composed.
I'm glad you liked the Dolomites shot. 
But I liked the Dolomites most.
Thanks for checking in! Nice to hear from you. 
It was great to have that view of the Grand Canal over several days. I took quite a few pictures, but in only a few was the light such that it gave them that painterly quality.
I enjoyed your photos of Prague! That's a city I'd like to visit one day! I'm happy for you!
The pavement pics you posted were very nice! I really like mosaics and those kinds of patterned pavements.
I have to show you what we saw in an art gallery in Venice. Someone made this picture of the Three Graces from a collage of photos of fragments of the pavements in San Marco.
