DGayle

Today was our last full day in Italy…and we tried to make the very most of it. We had a few more gifts to buy, but we began the day with the Big Red Bus Tour Red Line, which took us all the way to the small town of Fiseole. Just a few miles away, this very old, medieval town over looks all of Florence. We departed the bus at the Palazzo Pitti, which is another palace of the Medici’s. Unfortunately, it is Monday, so the museum at the palace was closed. We had cappuccino near this place, primarily so I could use the bathroom. Then we walked at short distance to the Ponte Vecchio, where we looked at beautiful jewelry in many shops. We walked along the Arno and continued shopping, until we found a ... read more

Today began early as we caught the 8 am shuttle from our hotel to the center of Florence (at the train station). We then walked to the Ponte Vecchio where we met our tour guide for a tour of The Best of Florence. Angelo was a helpful guide who told us some important facts regarding the Medici family and the history of Florence. We saw the Palazza Vecchio, the Duomo, and ended this portion of our tour at the Accademia Gallery. Here we saw the famous “David” statue by Michelangelo. What a remarkable sculpture by a 22 year old man!! After this tour, we had quick bite of lunch before we met up with Costanza for our afternoon tour of the Uffizi. We spent two hours learning about the earliest art from Italy through the Renaissance. ... read more

It was a perfect day in Tuscany…all though I’m not sure I thought it would be at the beginning. We awoke to clouds and eventually rain…the kind of steady, soaking rain that a person knows we sometimes need, but not on your vacation. We asked for a recommendation of something to do that was not too far away and the ladies at the front desk suggested a village pretty close that had a castle. So, off we go with Dennis at the helm and “Bella” navigating the way. We found the town, but the castle was closed and apparently so was tourism for this year. We tried to get some help from a very unpleasant little man, to no avail, and then left. It was pouring rain anyway, so it was not very much fun. We ... read more

Today was the day for Chianti…the region that is!! Dennis & “Bella” (the GPS) did a wonderful job once again of getting us to this region of Tuscany. We visited Greve in Chianti first. It was a fun town, with it’s two claims to fame as the place with a butcher shop that dates back to the 700’s and the home of Giovanni da Verrazzano (the explorer that the Verrazzano Bridge in NYC is name after). We shopped, walked, and had lunch in Greve. Then we traveled to a small winery in Rietine. We took a tour and had a tasting. The couple that own this winery have 12 hectares of land (not quite sure what that is, but it is not big), yet harvest 18 tons of grapes each day for six days during the ... read more

Today was a great day!! We decided to have a “take it easy day” at the hotel and shopping in San Gimignano. We had breakfast, dumped photos from the camera, read books out in the yard, had a leisurely lunch and just relaxed. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed just taking it easy. Around 4 pm, we drove to San Gimignano, did some shopping, took some photos, and had dinner. The food was probably the worst we’ve had since we have been in Italy, but it was ok. Life is good in Tuscany!! ... read more

We can tell you for sure, that the tower in Pisa really does lean……Wow! Today we drove to Pisa and viewed the Leaning Tower. How much fun to see! We had a bite of lunch in Pisa and then toured the Duomo (cathedral) there. In 1173 the work began on the “bell tower” to go along with the Duomo…what we now know as the “Leaning Tower”. Over the years the tower has tilted an additional 1 mm per year. By 1993 it was 4.47 m out of plumb, or more than 5 degrees from vertical. We were not overly impressed with the old walled city of Pisa, and the rest of the city was the busiest we have seen since Rome. Dennis did a wonderful job of driving us there and “Bella” (our GPS) was most ... read more

Today was a wonderful adventure in Tuscany!! We left the hotel around noon and traveled to the town of Siena, not really knowing what to expect. We arrived to find a beautiful piazza with the famous Duomo. First we toured the Santa Maria della Scala museum. We saw the Comune di Siena, their permanent exhibits, a special Michelangelo exhibit, and a special restoration exhibit. There has been excavation and restoration by the town of Siena in this building. The building began as a hospital and place for orphans to come and eventually be launched into life. This all occurred in the 13th, 14th, & 15th centuries. Then we toured the Duomo (Cathedral), baptistery and crypts. The artwork, portraits, carvings and church were phenomenal. After many hours of walking, we began our trip back towards San Gimignano. ... read more

Today was a perfect vacation day in beautiful Tuscany. The day began with Dennis telling me that he had really messed up his phone. While trying to get an email update from Tim regarding the Alabama football game (which was in the middle of the night here), he entered the wrong password into his phone the maximum number of times. This caused the phone, out of an effort to prevent fraud, to wipe all of the info from the phone!! So, he has no phone or email for the rest of our trip!! Yeah!! We had breakfast at the Hotel Pescille, took a long walk, read books, I took a nap, and finally we left the hotel to visit a local town, Volterra, around 3 pm. We had a fun time walking through this very old ... read more

What a day today has been!! We began with a sleep-in day in Rome. We then got dressed, had a leisurely breakfast, packed our things, and checked out of the Hilton Cavalieri. What a beautiful hotel!! We got a taxi to the train station, arriving almost 2 hours before our train departed. The train station was lovely, but we did not really know what we were doing. Fortunately, we found some English speaking ladies with experience and finally the Information kiosk. We boarded our train for Florence at 1:20…our scheduled time was 1:15, so we thought this was really good!! The trip to Florence was seamless. This was good news because then the adventure began. First we had to find the Hertz rental car place. The person at the Info booth in the Florence terminal gave ... read more

Friday, September 24 Once again, our day began fairly early, but not as early as yesterday. We had to meet our tour at Plaza Venezia by 9:15. Today Jason led 8 of us through a history of the Roman Empire. We toured the Roman forum, Palantine hill, and the Colosseum. What an exciting day for those of us who love history!! It was interesting to consider how much of who we are is influenced by the ancient Roman culture—from religion, to politics, to culture to our language. What will people say about the year 2010 in 2000 years? Will we still even be here in 2000 years? After the tour was over (another 3+ hours), we had lunch in a family owned and run restaurant recommended by our guide Jason. It was quaint and delicious. Dennis ... read more