I have just returned from Italy (on Monday), where I toured Nothern Italy with a friend of mine, Morten, which you might already know.

First we flew to Venice (Saturday) and had a look at this fascinating, but also in so many ways strange city. On Sunday we drove to Verona to have a look at the Romeo and Juliette city, but — more importantly — to see Verdi’s opera Aida at Arena di Verona, an ancient, Roman colosseum-like amphitheatre. If you at some time are in the area, do not miss out on this great opportunity. Below is a picture from inside the arena about half an hour before the opera starts.

We returned to Venice in the middle of Sunday night, and stayed in Venice for another two days. At this time it is very turisty. You should go outside of this season, and pick a place to live that is not that close to the San Marco square.

On Wednesday we took the train to Florence, where we were to visit one of my very good friends from New York — Paolo. There are pictures of him in some of my earlier posts from New York. We stayed at his parents summer residence outside of Florence–a beautiful olive yard.

On Saturday, we took the train to Milan, where we finished off the tour with some power shopping. More photos to come, hopefully, once I have gone through the more than 1.5k pics we took down there.

Finally, I have had the time to look at my Los Angeles (FEB 2005) photographs. Clicking on the link below, will take you to a dozen photos from the below mentioned visit to LA. We were placed among the finalists in the competition ahead of Berkeley, Wharton, and Thammasat.

Photos from LA / click here