Here we are, together in Venice. The house of the Doges is just to our left, and San Marco Basilica just past that. The weather was great - only nice days in Venice that November.

Here's the Piazza San Marco - the Basilica is on the right. The picture doesn't do it justice.
It was incredible!

One of the many canals in Venice - so beautiful!

S. Maria D. Salute viewed from the Grand Canal.

There's more than one leaning tower in Italy - they're actually quite common. Our tour guide said we should be cautious around 500 year old towers when we returned to America. Ha!

We took a day trip to Innsbruck, Austria and stopped at this cute little mom-n-pop restaurant near the Brenner Pass on the way back for dinner - Liza wanted 'authentic'  wiener schnitzel. Turns out she wanted it with gravy but the waiter (far left) didn't speak english and none of us could muster enough out of our scattered italian, german and spanish to figure out the word for gravy. After about 10 minutes (really) the waiter finally said "Sauce! ...oh, catastrophe!" Apparently it was his wife in the kitchen doing the cooking and he was genuinely offended that Liza wanted the schnitzel with gravy. He refused to provide any gravy but did eventually bring some catsup (I think).

Later on the same Annual Awards trip, some of us spent 3 days in Rome. It was INCREDIBLE! This photo from inside the Coliseum shows a partially renovated arena floor and seating. It was AMAZING! There appeared to be no fewer than three levels below the arena floor for who knows what. The whole place is in varying states of decay but is rich with detail as well.

While in Rome, we saw many spectacular sights including this waterfall in the middle of the Piazza Navona.

There were wonderful things to eat including Italian ice cream aka Gelato. It was SOOO good!

We saw and toured the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica (seen here from inside the Vatican).

Inside the Vatican was wonder after wonder. Hand painted walls/ceilings everywhere, sculpture, tapestries, and more. It was breath-taking.	We also had the opportunity to hear and be blessed by the Pope (Benedict XVI). This picture is all the optical and digital zoom I could muster with my camera from where we were. Believe it or not St. Peter's square, where we were and the pope was looking out on, is a larger area than the Coliseum.

What an amazing trip!

Thank you BeautiControl!

What a hotel! This trip was off to an amazing start.

One of our destinations was the Cathedral of St. Nicholas where Grace Kelly is buried.	We also visited Nice France were we had the afternoon for site seeing and shopping. (Oh my, someone please hide the plastic!)

Nothing could have prepared us for the unbelievable beauty of the famed 'Blue Coast' of the French Riveria in Nice France. It was breath-taking - by day and by night (below).

This was truly one of the most amazing sunsets we've ever witnessed. We were returning to Monaco by train along the Mediterranean coast at dusk. The heavens were definitely on fire!

BeautiControl took us on several day trips to wonderful places including mid evil castle/villages of Eze and St. Paul de Vance (above) in France. Both are the sort of places where no car can go - only people on foot (and perhaps by horseback years ago). These places were constructed for safety from attack (and for tight living quarters).

Back in Monaco, even the view from the train station itself was unbelievable. This shot is taken at about a 30 degree angle looking DOWN.

No one should visit Monaco without visiting the famed Grand Casino - even if your not the gambling sort - we're not, but we did win 20 Euro - which we promptly lost later at the casino around the corner. :-) An amazing place by day or night. Even the cars parked out front were worth stopping for further study - I never expect to see cars like those again in our lifetimes.

Be sure to stop at this statue of King Louis XIV. The horse's knee has a very noticeable shine. This is due to a superstition of good luck before visiting the Grand Casino next door.	And what would a BeautiControl Annual Awards trip be without a lovely evening celebrating with cherished friends.

A truly amazing trip!

Thank you BeautiControl!

Breakfast on the green - BeautiControl style

Tropical flowers from the flower market

Friends at the Doka coffee plantation

Coffee at the Doka coffee plantation. Most of the red berries contain two coffee beans though some have only one and others three. They are hand picked, the berries removed, washed and sun dried. At this point they are a light beige color. Finally the beans are roasted to bring out the familiar color and flavor.

Catholic Church basically in the middle of the jungle (not quite). It was an open air church and the wall behind the alter was a naturally flowing waterfall.

There were nearly a dozen Macaws in this tree we drove by. Interesting Macaw fact - they mate for life.	Iguanas were every where - kinda like rabbits here in the states. Iguanas are called 'chicken of the trees' in Costa Rica (I'm sure you can imagine why.)
These monkeys were everywhere in Manuel Antonio National Park. They were 'wild' but were quite used to tourists - so much so they would take a bag of snacks from your pack if you weren't paying attention.	Tree sloth in Manuel Antonio National Park. We were very lucky to see any (we saw two!) because they sleep ~23 hours a day.

This was part of the pool at the Los Suenos resort where we stayed.

This was the LARGEST wild bamboo we've ever seen (not that we've see any anywhere else). This was also in Manuel Antonio National Park and was as tall as the trees.

The coastline was magnificent!

What an amazing trip!

Thank you BeautiControl!