Yesterday we retruned from Italy. It was a great trip - we were in Milan, Como, Venice, Verona Bolzano and the Dolomites, as well as an excursion into Innsbruck in Austria.

The first day we arrived at Milan's airport and went straight to Como, without going to Milan itself. We walked around the town. The next day we picked up Rachel, our American friend, from the airport and then took ferries to Tremezzo and Belaggio in Lake Como - it was beautiful. The next day we went to Venice and spent two days there. It was great there. My sister stepped on a pigeon by mistake (the pigeon is fine) in Piazza San Marco and we kept ducking when the pigeons flew close to our heads. They were fascinating and disgusting at the same time. On the fifth day we spent 3 hours in Verona (very nice) on the way to Bolzano in the Dolomites. The dolomites were beautiful - that was the best part of the trip. On the sixth day we decided on a whim to take a 2 hour train ride to Innsbruck - it was worth it just for the great scenery. On the last full day we went to Milan and stayed at a hotel near the airport.

We had a great time wherever we went - only in Milan and Innsbruck it was a bit unpleasant. In Milan the subway looked disgusting and a little kid looked at my sister's pockets, ready to pick them, but then noticed Rachel was looking at him so he went away. In Innsbruck we saw two teenagers wearing army boots, black clothes and shaved heads. In Italy when we were asked where we were from we said that my sister and I are from Israel and Rachel is from the States, but in Austria we said all three of us were Americans. Somehow all three of us felt uncomfortable there.

This was a great trip, even better than my last trip to the States, but somehow I wasn't sorry to come home this time. It was exactly the right amount of time.

My flight to Milan is tomorrow morning. I leave for the airport tonight. How exciting! Our American friend will join us on Sunday.