Despite my reservations about Venice after the crushing crowds of Rome, Jordan and I both admitted that this ended up being one of our favorite places. Although the amount of tourism is suffocating ( so much so that I'm not sure the island's cultural ecosystem can handle it), there are places that you do not stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Dutch, American and English. Jordan and I loved circumnavigating around the major tourist sites (even though we popped into the crowds to see a few) and through the labyrinthine back streets. We had not planned on eating in Venice restaurants because of the terrible things we heard so we packed a picnic of tellegio, fresh and smoked burrata cheeses, Nebbiolo wine, framboise di bosco (woodland strawberries- so good, I'll write about these later), prosciutto, coppa, Parma ham, basically everything italian we could get our hands on from the wonderful market in Padua. That night, when we lost all restraint and our economical plans of leaving after sunset, we went for the most romantic meal of our trip with wonderful food, candles and waited until the rain was finished at midnight before taking the train back to Padua.
After Venice, Jordan and I headed to my cousins in Formia! It was a welcome break to stay with family who knew there way around. Jane and Peppe took us to Naples also, where we had the best pizza of our life. Jordan and I both thought it was definitely the best pizza we've ever had, but also may with the award for best thing eaten on the trip. The jury is still out though, and unfortunately I was too incapacitated by flavor to take a photo so you'll just have to imagine it. The photo wouldn't have done it justice though. We also took part in the village tradition of an 8km walk through the mountains on May 1st which is a national holiday to celebrate Liberation Day. Jane also cooked... A lot. It was delicious. 
Jordan and I also made a quick stop at the last farm I was working at, Fattoria Biodynamica, to make some cheese and get a little taste of Anna's wonderful hospitality and farm life.
That's Jordan makin cheese with us!!!! He's a natural.
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