Bun in the Oven - Sequel to Cooking with Bucky

Chapter 24 --Italy and California 😍😍

We headed back to California on our long flight from Venice. This time we didn't want to go back. We really wanted to stay in Venice or go to Florence again. We deeply fell in love with Italy. We both agreed we picked Italy as a good place to visit and see. Italy was a blast. If we get to see Thor or Loki again, we're going to tell them we had a wonderful time. Lots of great memories of seeing the Piazza or Square of Florence, the Accademia and many other sites in Florence and of course Rome with the Colosseum, Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel. In Venice, we had more than one ride on a gondola. We just loved it so much we wanted to do a romantic night on a gondola. They offered dinner before our ride which we did one evening. It ended up being enchanting and romantic ride. We also got to see St. Mark's Square and Byron's house on the Grand Canal at the Palazzo Mocenigo detto "il Nero" which was near St. Mark's Square. All we did was go on a guided tour of Venice on a gondola ride where our guide explained to us about why Lord Byron came to Venice and stayed there. We also saw the Doge in Venice. The Doge is a palace and one of the landmarks of Venice. It was very impressive and very big. We even went inside and saw some opulent rooms decorated in the golden baroque style. James saw that some of the room are in burgundy and thought we should add their style to ours. I just laughed. He has a silly sense of humor but I did notice he liked the dark walls. A little of him was still thinking of Hydra's doom and gloom. To get us out of our funk, we also had gelato to lift his spirits. James still likes his American ice cream very much. I did too. In fact, the one thing we want when returning to the States is ice cream. The food in Italy was spectacular. We also had American food there like cheeseburgers and steak. We could live there and be happy together for a very long time. We didn't want our vacation to end.

When we did arrive back home, we had a lot to share with Scott. We brought back many souvenirs for ourselves and some for Scott and Sam. We even had to buy a piece of luggage in Venice to bring all our things back! A very nice piece of leather luggage that James had picked for us. It lightened the load when it came time to check our luggage at the airport. We laughed at our new addition, the added luggage from Italy and in good quality leather! Normally light travelers, we're now getting more baggage including a baby. It's towards the end of September for us when we returned to our home and see an overeager Lady and a happy Scott. They warmly greeted us at the front door when we arrived from the airport.

"Nice to see you! You look so healthy and tan." Scott said as he let us inside. We laughed at him as our driver carried our luggage in the house.

"It's from our walks and gondola rides!" I jovially said and hugged Scott.

"You look so good! I guess I should go to Italy now!" Scott eagerly said.

"You need to go in the summer months!" James advised Scott.

"Uh, did you have fun there? I remember you guys mentioned running into Thor in Rome." Scott inquisitively asked as we moved our luggage at the foot of the stairs.

"We had lots of fun! Between Rome and Venice, we simply loved it there. The museums are fantastic, the cities outstanding and the people are very passionate and full of verve." Bucky said to Scott as we all walked into the living room and sat down on the comfortable couch.

"We also saw Loki in Florence. He was there for something else so we just accidently ran into him at a museum." I said in passing.

"Wow! And Loki too! I never had a chance to meet him. That must be something else!" Scott exclaimed in wonder. James and I looked at each other knowing the Asgardian brothers will make an appearance next month at our baby shower.

"So, what's next for you two? I guess some much-needed down time for you after that long flight. I know the baby shower is next month." Scott asked us while reminded us about the shower.