Benvenuti in Italia!

Here we are finally in Italy!  All of the craziness is done (ok, not really, but we can pretend for a little while and I will call this a defense mechanism) and it is time to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  Now that my bruises and scrapes are starting to heal....oh yeah I forgot to tell you that the whole car ride from Texas to Illinois involved a 50 lb. lap dog sitting on my lap!  The cats were taking up the back seat and apparently they were very scary and were going to eat the dog (our cats are very little and about 7 pounds a piece) so after she hung over the middle console for an hour and stared at me with fear in her eyes I gave in (yeah I am a sucker and can't deny it).  Amazingly enough, when a 50 pound dog with ball peen hammer elbows sits on your lap for that long, you get a few bruises.  Then the cat decides to use my leg to hoist herself up onto my lap, too, and she has front claws....I really do still love my animals!

Arona is a beautiful little holiday town famous to Italians, Germans, and the French and it sits right on Lake Maggiore.  We only had a choice between 3 hotels while we look for a place to live and this seemed like a good match. Here are a few pictures from the balcony of our room and some highlights around Arona:

view from our hotel

piazza near the hotel

view from the hotel in the morning

There are 2 main attractions in Arona (besides the lake): The San Carlo statue and Parco della Rocca Boromea.  I went hiking to San Carlo one morning with Sasha and what a hike it was (I am going to have really great quads when I leave Italy).  The status is very huge, was built in 1697, and sits on the side of a mountain.  I kept following the signs, and climbed, followed the signs, and kept thinking I must be going the wrong way, how can I be missing this massive statue then suddenly I rounded the corner and there it was.  I couldn't go inside, because I had Sasha with me, but Matt and I will go again and I will get some more pictures.

Video on San Carlo if you are interested:
http://on.aol.com/video/visit-the-san-carlo-borromeo-statue-in-arona--italy-516962635

Now, the Parco della Rocca Borromea was not exactly a tiny hike either (short in distance, but tough on the quads going up).  But the top was very rewarding with some really great views over Arona (apparently the goats liked the view, too, 3rd picture down):

So many more stories to come....toilets, driving, Italian Riviera, and Lake Orta.....

Ok, I wanted to catch you with the toilet comment.  I find it very hilarious that most restaurants or public locations don't have toilet seats and some lack toilet paper:

Now I need to end on something better then toilets so do you know what makes a lake with a castle in the background better? Super fast boats!  Last weekend was the world series of boat races on Lake Maggiore!

Ciao!!