Italy: The First 24 Hours (and before that)

I have been in Italy almost 24 hours.  Here is my house in the States before I left:










Here is my cat Zack before I left:

Here is my cat Squeaky before I left:

Here is my cat Winnie (who would not pose for me before I left) disguised as a gingerbread man:

I took a plane from Boston to Zurich, and then another to Venezia.  I didn't take pictures in Zurich, but here are the important things:  there were fancy smoking lounges, there was a giant Toblerone, and there was a display of softball-sized Chupa Chups (you know, those "delicious" lollipops).  At the end of it all, I was very thirsty.  My uncle Gene picked me up.  Now I'm at his and my aunt Tara's house.

Stuff  I've done:

Eaten una coppetta di gelato arancio rosso e cocco (that's a good combinazione)
Had a good night's sleep
Went for una passeggiata, saw una lumaca (snail) and una lucertola (lizard)
Watched cartoons in Italian

Here is my number one fan, Phantom, with my computer:

 Phantom is a long-haired German shepherd.  He is very friendly, but likes chasing things, including his sister Zoe:

The house is nice and mostly normal.  Occasionally you see things like this:

My two cousins are Conor and Annie Cate.  Here is Conor with Phantom:

Here is Annie Cate dressed up in stuff that jingles from Spain:

Here is AC and her friend Maddie in front of some puzzling graffiti:

Here are some lovely viste from la nostra passeggiata:

Here is a video of AC and Maddie singing along to one of their favorite songs:

Aaaand here is Zoe disguised as Yoda, a.k.a. "Zoda":