Why I love our Canon EOS Rebel T3

A year ago, we went to Pisa (you can read about that here). I got some decent photos with our pocket camera, but nothing spectacular. Yesterday we were there again because our friends Melinda and Daisy are visiting. I think the new camera did so much better even when I was taking cliche-ish photos.

This one probably is a better indicator of quality:

But I think this is my favorite even with all of the random people in the foreground.

It's time to have more fun, but I'll eventually return with a full report.

Another place I need to visit

Kevin and I had to make a quick trip to Vicenza on Friday, and as we drove back, I finally was able to get a semi-clear photo of this cathedral and campanile at Monteforte D'Alpone. It's definitely one of the more distinctive structures along the autostrada between Milan and Vicenza. Perhaps we'll stop in some day.

Still life with camera case

Parent-teacher conferences were this week, and of course Owen tagged along. Somewhere along the way I let him play with the camera, so I've just discovered several shots similar to this:

The next day I had to go to middle-school transition meeting (When did I grow up and have a kid old enough to go to middle school? Stay tuned for a post on that ...), and during that time he added this:

There's also a video from each day, but I don't want to make anyone motion sick. And don't worry, he's still taking plenty of self-portraits:

Playground art or police chalk outline?

You decide.

You'll be overjoyed to hear I've got photos of some more Roman ruins

Yesterday en route to a new-to-us toddler/preschooler music class, I happened upon this:After class I stopped to take photos but didn't have great views because there was a group of schoolchildren at the rail overlooking the site. They didn't seem too interested in what their teacher/guide was telling them. I guess that's a universal thing.
The pieces of wall in the photo once were part of the imperial palace of Mediolanum, which was the Romans' name for what is now Milan. I need to do a little more research on this, but it's definitely pretty neat. And if you happen upon the site, on Via Brisa off Via Meravigli, you'll find explanations in both Italian and English.

Yes, we're still here. And we celebrated Easter.

Hmmm, I'm not sure why I haven't blogged in so long. Certainly I could have thought of something to write about. I can't guarantee it would have been exciting, but such is life.
For Easter dinner, we had some friends over. Sharon made a traditional English trifle, at least as traditional as Mormons can make since we don't use alcohol. It was lovely. Since the commissary had been out of good hams on our last trip and we don't typically eat lamb, which is the Italians' dish of choice for Easter, I made pork roasts. I gambled and used a recipe I'd never used before, but it turned out OK. So, if you have a pork roast you think you might want to brine, try this.
The Friday before Easter, we had a few friends over to dye eggs. Finding white eggs can be a chore here, but I managed -- and was quite happy when the numbers stamped on them came off when they were boiled. These were mostly colored by Laura. I guess we can declare this to be the Easter of the Smiley Face.
And of course I did a lot of thinking about the true meaning of Easter, what we're really celebrating and such. This sums up my thoughts quite nicely.

Adventures in northern Italy: Nove

In part because Virginia is getting ready to move and in part because we just really, really wanted to check it out, on Saturday I went to Nove -- one of Italy's significant ceramics towns -- with Virginia and Rachael. Laura tagged along, which of course meant I bought some things I might not have otherwise.
Our first stop was Ceramica VBC, which sells items they produce for Tiffany, Lenox and Williams Sonoma at much lower prices than you'd get them in regular stores. (My online friend Catherine, who lives in Vicenza, has a Tiffany bunny bank she paid less than $20 for that retails for $115 in the U.S.) The photos of the store on its Web site only show about a third of the floor, so you can imagine it's quite a selection.
Next we went to Ceramiche Larry, where we met Larry himself and where Virginia was able to order a personalized pitcher and welcome plaque. I would have gotten a nativity scene here, but they were a little larger than I have room for. But this is the place to go if you want religious ceramics (Virgin Marys or the like). The pieces were beautiful.
We went to another, fancier store whose name I need to figure out in case I decide I need cool things just to look at. The prices were higher, but the pieces were much more artistic.
The last place we went was G.B. Cogo, which specializes in ceramic lamp bases, although there were other pieces as well.
At the end of the morning, I came home with this:I like them all, of course, but I'm pretty excited about the butter dish:Even the inside is cool:
My mom will be getting the sunflower salt-and-pepper shakers for her birthday, which was Friday. So in case she happens to read this: Hi, Mom! I'll send them soon.
In between the shopping adventures, we stopped to take a few photos. Mostly this involved me stopping the car and Virginia and Rachael hanging out of the windows with cameras. I'm pretty sure this guy only came out to the water wheel because he saw us:
And I'm sure if we go back, Laura will want to find out if it's possible to climb this tower:
I hope we do have a chance to go back. It's a great little town.