Today we had another yummy breakfast at the hotel (biscotti with Nutella, stuffed crossants, and a variety of other rolls). I could get used to this. :-) Then we headed to the train station for a day trip to Pisa. After an hour on the train with some chatty Spring Breakers and their oversized luggage, we arrived in the quaint town of Pisa. We opted to walk through the city to the Field of Miracles in lieu of the more popular bus taken by most tourists, and we weren't dissapointed. On our way there, we walked through an open air mall with unique boutiques not found in Florence. Brecklyn found a cute white dress at the store "Prenatal". Then we walked past the university where Andre Bocceli and Galileo studied. The streets here were very narrow ... read more

Here we go again! Lesson learned from last trip - having a 50+ lb bag is no fun at the airport or hauling up a subway flight of stairs with 3 kids. This time - backpacks - exactly one per person. No more. Well, kids are in bed dreaming about Italian gelato and pizza. Tomorrow we leave from DFW airport and spend the next 15 hours in or around airports, so we'd better get to bed too! We'll share more details as we go, but the next update will probably be in 2 days from Florence. (For some reason the pictures aren't always showing up inline with this text. See below for a if you don't see one in this post.)... read more

After eating some yummy bagels which we picked up yesterday on the Freedom Trail, we grabbed the shuttle to the Wonderland metro station. The people of Boston are so nice, the shuttle drivers always have a smile and are very courteous. It reminds me a lot of the charm in west TX. After 3 different subway connections, we finally made it to Harvard. Once again, the flowers were spectacular. The trees had these beautiful white blossoms and there were delicate purple flowers everywhere. School was out so the campus was very quiet. The kids were not very happy taking pictures in front of Mr. Harvard. (I guess we've trained them well. Future Texas Tech Red Raiders here). Unfortunately, for some reason the 3G connection was not working on campus, so we ended up getting lost trying ... read more

When we step on JetBlue flight 1172 tomorrow morning, we will enter our 7th mode of transportation in less than 24 hours. Maybe this is an interesting way to debrief a one day tour of the largest city in the country. 1. Subway My first choice for transportation in New York, it is dependable, quick, and always available no matter where you go (in Manhatten, at least). We bought two $10 Metrocards yesterday on our first ride to the hotel, and we used all but about $1.70 of it. Travelling during the day, the trains are generally well populated enough that we don't have to worry about the crazies, and after about 9 am, there are usually plenty of empty seats available. Unfortunately, the downside is that, as mentioned on our trip yesterday, they are not ... read more

We woke up starving and we carbo loaded. Between the five of us, we ate 2 bowls of oatmeal, 2 waffles, 4 muffins, 3 donuts, 3 bananas, and 2 oranges. Thank you Comfort Inn for the continental breakfast! Good thing because we had more walking to do today. After hiking the 4 flights of stairs to Market Street (the main street through the historic section of Philly) and putting on some sunscreen, we walked towards historic Philadelpia. First, we saw the Liberty Bell which was surprisingly smaller than both of us imagined. The girls seem to just soak up historical facts--Brecklyn in particular will stop to tell us random bits of trivia from the cracks in the bell to how the Wright Brothers flew their plane (from a lecture at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum ... read more