Florence…

What can I say? From the point of leaving the train, Florence has been nothing but incredible for us. It captures you from the get go with its small cobble-stone streets and buildings that were probably built before Columbus even thought of commanding a fleet.

For starters, our hotel is in the North West corner of the city. It seems to be a bit less congested in our area than central Florence. The hotel is the best placed we have stayed yet on our trip. We are on the top floor with a great view of the duomo, which sticks out of the skyline like the Transamerican building.

The room has lots of space and free internet access, which is why we are catching up on our postings!

It is an interesting city, because it seems to be caught between its past and the present day. Streets that were designed for carts or maybe a horse now are filled with small European cars and scooters. You see a sculpture of Neptune on one street corner and then almost get taken down by a Vespa on another. Street merchants are everywhere. If you want leather, this the place to be. Hopefully we can find some coats that fit, because you cannot find deals like this in the US.

The food is incredible! I have never had such great pastas! I ordered simple a breast of chicken the other night, and I have to say without hyperbole that I have ne

ver tasted a piece of chicken as delicious as that one. (Lisa and I go back tonight, hopefully!)

Our first full day in Florence was the day of tours. We had paid tour in the morning and in the afternoon. The morning tour was walk through the town which finshed off at the Academia museum featuring Michelangelo’s sculpture of David. We could not take pics so I have nothing to show, but I do have to say that any picture or and video of David does not do it the justice as you stand before the 17 foot statue. It is breathless to think a man chisled such a likeness of man from a piece of stone. (Mamaaaa miaaaa, yes David is AMAZING... along with the other sculptures leading up to the David. On th

e morning tour we also looked at many medieval buildings which are now shopping stores on the ground level and apartments above. We also saw the Duomo... I am looking for the words..... uhhhhh GINORMOUS, Breathtaking beauty. I must admit I enjoyed the exterior more than the interior, although

the interior of the dome is quite ornate. They began cleaning the marble exterior 16 years ago and have only completed the front facade and one side. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT, talk about job security!!! You can really see the color of the marble on the cleaned portions. Apparently the pollution is corroding the marble away and turning it into chaulk. Here is another plug for a reason to change our destructive ways... if we don't we will destroy the beauty of the statues and buildings of our history! The city has power plugs all over the city for people with electric cars and scooters to plug into for FREE! This sounds like a great incentive to get people to buy altertanative fueled cars. )

The afternoon was a tour of the Uffizi museum. It was a pretty informative, but waaaaaay too long. We did see some great works of art, but after 2 hours of standing in a room that is over 80 degrees, you tend to lose your attention. (Whilst we were in the museum we were studying a couple paitings by Leonardo da Vinci and like a swarm of bee's the room is taken over by a bunch of suit's with an coiling wire up to their ear's. You guessed it, the secret service, but for whom? A bunch of languages were enchanged and our tour group was rushed out of the room, so much for enjoying those paitings. It turns out the president of Austria was visiting a beaurocrat in Florence and they were visiting the sites together. This and one other incident is about all we have had in the way of running into someone famous)

Today, we got a little risky and rented scooters, and WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!! (Although Scott and I have very limited experience with a scooter, both of us almost wrecked just leaving the rental store. They will give these things to anyone.... SCARY) We picked up a map and took off south through the Tuscany region. It reminds you of Napa or Calistoga, but the houses are all older than our country. We drove down to a small town called Greve in the Chianti region and had a late lunch.

On the way back, we stopped at Pizzale Michelango, which is a plateau on top of a southern hill facing Florence. The place is perfect for taking picures…like this one!

Anyway, Lisa and I are off to dinner. Until the next time, Ciao, baby!