in case i needed to actually convince you to come to italy with me...a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

the famosa ponte vecchio in florence.

vespas in florence. WE COULD RENT ONE!

best city ever. seriously. you will fall in love when you have the first sip of your cappucino in the piazza popolo. and buy your first leather purse in the mercato di san lorenzo...mmm...leather purses..

two of my adorable, lovely kids from the american school of milan (last halloween as cinderella and the devil in a blue dress). they will love and huge you immediately. florencia and sofia. such angels.

who can resist italian bare-chested leather-vested firethrowers??

the view of the alps from my apartment. on a pollution-free day, that is.

this could happen to you, too!

i probably wouldn't hit up cinque terre this time around, but, you know, just knowing it's a few hours away...

italian women just walk around like this all the time! italian men too, come to think of it. by the way, that somehow just reminded me of something else good about italy: THE SHOPPING IS FANTASTIC. i will probably bring a duffel bag stuffed inside my original suitcase to bring home everything i buy :)

wine wine wine wine wine wine drunk.

la toscana. i might just spend the entire time there. hmm.

soooooo last night irina, the russian italian tutor, mi ha fatto sapere that alitalia is starting up direct flights from d.c. to milano at the end of march! and i searched the site today and found a ticket for less than $500!!

so. who wants to come with me? i'll go at the end of march for 7-10 days, starting off in milan, where there's free lodging courtesy the lovely natania, with whom i lived last year. then florence and rome will probably be the only other things i have time to squeeze in. well, definitely florence. i loved rome, but i'm obsessed with florence, and there are other, quirkier towns i'd like to see and things i'd like to do that i didn't have the chance to last year.

i mean, traveling to italy with me is really very appealing, if i do say so myself. i speak the language, i understand the train system and i know some wicked good places to eat. seriously, no one else is going to take you to the lo chalet pizzeria in the suburb of opera. where you will eat the BEST PIZZA OF YOUR LIFE.

so sign on up for the catherine-guided tour of italia! everyone's invited. and if no one comes, i'm going by myself!