February in Madrid and Venice

First the 'cat news'. It was a sad start to the year to learn that our boy Rachi (GP Havacats Rachmaninov of ComposerCat) had cancer. It was very agressive and we had very little time after the daignosis. We shared a heartbreaking two weeks with him before he went to the Rainbow Bridge to be with Leo. It was a sad start to our new year. We had a great visit from our friend Dr. Laurie who spent a couple of weeks with us and even joined me on a trip to Stockholm for a cat show - where our newest little star became a Grand Champion. This accomplished earned her mama the title of Distinguished Merit. We were all very proud to come home with our new 'baby Grand'. We followed that up with weekend in Florence for some leather shopping - something my budget could have done without! I think Laurie went home with quite a nice new jacket wardrobe and I didn't do too bad myself. Feb - Started the month out with a trip to Madrid for a cat show. We didn't get a chance to do much sightseeing this trip. It was cold and windy so we stayed close to the hotel. We did find a great place for Tapas and a fabulous bottle of wine! What more could you ask for? This winter has been especially cold with two snows in December and another last week that accumulated 4-5 inches. It isn't a New York winter, but it is more that I want in Italy. I'm ready for spring! Next weekend I'm hoping for sunshine so I can start cleaning up my yard in preparation for spring flowers. I decided that I'm not planting vegitables this year. The produce is so good here and so very cheap, I'll just rely on the local farmers to keep me in vegies. Of course, I'll still have to have my herbs but they are very low maintenance. The lemon tree on my terrace has several ripe lemons on it right now. I can't bring myself to pick them because I enjoy the splash of color. I guess I'm just not much of a gardener... maybe I should stick to flowers! Yesterday was a nice sunny (but cold) day and we made it a day trip to Venice. I've been wanting to do the insiders tour of the Doge's Palace since I arrived and we finally got around to it. In the morning we toured the Palace, prison and crossed the Bridge of Sighs and then we had a nice lunch at a local Bistro before heading over to the Academia gallery for an afternoon of art overload. It was a nice relaxing day and we enjoyed spending it with our friend Alicia. She and Bill provide running commentary on pretty much everything so I'm never short laughs! I don't have many photos to share since the tour and the gallery both prohibit photos :-( Next weekend is the last in February. I'm hoping to make another day trip somewhere but haven't decided on a destination yet. Any suggestions?