Verb conjugation of "manipolare" in Italian

I was on vacation for almost two months, so that I could not send you the learning files. In the coming days I will organize the tasks for 2012... Can I count on you for some translation work? Can you translate the following sentence?
It was the first time that we were on the Italian side of the lakes. It is amazing to see how different things can be on two sides of the border. People dress and behave differently. It was a great experience. I even used words from Lesson 45.
Perhaps we are could meet sometime in person, not just via the Internet. Of course, we should still write each other a lot. I will get back to you once I am back in Cologne, and then give you know.