My first big adventure! Shortly after leaving Microsoft, around Easter, I took a trip with my niece Brenda's High School travel club to Italy. To tell the truth I was a little apprehensive, after all I didn't know anyone going except Brenda, and I can't say that I've hung around a lot of high school students lately. So I didn't know what to expect but I was certainly excited to be going. As it turned out I had nothing to fear, I had a fabulous time. The students were wonderful, full of life and fun. The trip reminded me what it was like to be young, have a fresh perspective on the world and be free of stress. It was a perfect first trip after leaving work. When I got home I was exhausted, but felt younger than I had in years. All the worries, all the problems we face at work everyday had melted away and I felt free again.

Of course I was exhausted because we kept a blistering pace. The trip lasted almost two weeks, during which we were almost always on the move. We arrived in Rome after about 15 hours on planes and proceeded to immediately walk around the city for the next 16 hours. When we finally arrived at the hotel that night we only had about five hours sleep before starting it all over again. We toured Rome, the Vatican, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Assisi and returned to Rome for our last day. If we weren't walking somewhere, we were on a bus traveling to the next city. Throughout it all we saw hundreds of sights and I snapped hundreds of pictures. I selected a sample for the following pages - about 34 of the best shots but there are over 400 that I didn't scan in. I may add more later but this will have to do for now.

There's no doubt in my mind that the most picturesque, a photographer's paradise, was Venice. It was simply too easy to find great shots. Every corner I turned was an interesting angle and usually had water involved. Luckily, it's also one of the cities where we had the most free time - a whole afternoon. I took full advantage of it, walking nearly the three quarters of the city with Brenda snapping pictures all along the way.

However Venice was not my favorite city. That honor belongs to Florence. Whereas Venice was very picturesque, Florence felt comfortable, peaceful, full of life. I could easily see spending months living in Florence and who knows, maybe I will someday.

I have to thank Brenda for inviting me. I had such a wonderful time and have such great memories. It was very difficult to leave the group and all my new friends at the end of the trip.