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Welcome to our house. We live in a small village called Caldogno, Italy. It's in the Vicenza province of the Veneto region, about 10 kilometers north of the city of Vicenza. It's most famous for being the hometown of Roberto Baggio, considered by many to be the greatest Italian soccer player ever. In fact, his house is right down the street from us, which in the US would be like living next to Larry Bird or Barry Bonds. Unfortunately, I've never met Roberto in person, as he's only here in the offseason and mostly keeps to himself. Caldogno is a quiet, peaceful little town, and it sits just below the Alps, so on a clear day, you get a beautiful view of the mountains. Before Virginia got here, the house was pretty much a bachelor pad. That is to say, no decorations, and very messy. But now, it's like a totally new house. It's clean, it smells nice, and the decorations are everywhere. Here are some pictures...
The living room
The Bedroom
We call this "The Hong Kong Corner":
The Front Balcony
Our Wine Cellar (which is in the hallway...). You'll notice that the wine rack is missing a few bottles, thanks to Rik...
Our Garden
The fruits of Virginia's labors - have you ever seen such big beans?! Our Neighbors We have two neighbors: The Meneguzzos live across the hall, and the Gollins live upstairs. We get on with them extremely well. The Meneguzzos are comprised of Paolo, a shy but very kind and helpful guy, his wife Marissa, who is full of life and always smiling and laughing, and their quiet, studious daughter, Martha. Martha is a first year university student in Verona, but still lives at home. She also speaks a little bit of English, which is nice. Upstairs from us are Giampietro, a former Alpini (Italian Alpine soldiers) who is retired after 25 years or so of working for the Italian national rail company, his wife Agnesi, who is very friendly, but speaks no English, and their 32 year old daughter Monica, who recently got married to her longtime "ragazzo" Luca. They've since moved to a small town just outside Venice. Giampietro and Agnese are very fond of us and have sort of adopted us. In fact, Giampietro likes to tell people that I'm his second child. And they just love Virginia to death. Here are some pictures... Virginia and Agnese at Monica's wedding reception:
Virginia and Giampietro, also at the reception:
Giampietro escorting Monica into the church on the big day
From L-R: Virginia, Luca, Monica, Rik
Marissa and Paolo
In Our Area One thing the Vicenza area is famous for is beautiful old villas in the surrounding country. La Rotunda is a perfect example. There's a town next to Caldongo called Dueville - "Two Villas". They're absolutely gorgeous to see in person. I'm awed everytime I drive by them. Here's a couple pics:
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