Cranes and Canes

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Hi,

We are in Florence for the day but have stayed the last two nights in a small town about an hour by bus out of Florence called Tavarnelle Val di Pesa. We wanted to escape from the big city atmosphere of Rome and we definitely found serenity in Tavarnelle... We spent the whole day yesterday walking around the small town and we are certain that we are the youngest people in the town, other than the children, and there aren't many of them either. There are essentially no tourists, and the entire town looks like the geriatrics unit in a hospital... and they all stare at us like we're the town whores when we walk down the street.

We had a good laugh at the seniors who took a break from their bridge games, knitting, and just plain staring into nothing, to gawk at us whenever we walked by. This one popular joint, frequented by some of Tavarnelle's most famous bridge players, we walked by probably a total of 20 times always with a new item, ranging from a blanket, new shoes, sweater... We are certainly the talk of the town. We are also covered with a disgusting about of mosquito bites, which probably didn't help our case.

We always joke about being grandmothers, and Tavarnelle proved to us just how old our souls actually are, choosing to come to the country together instead of staying in a place with more energy like Florence or Siena. We asked these cute two older ladies, who were walking down the street with their arms linked, for directions and we joked that that would be us in 60 years or so.

So this explains the title of this blog entry, the cranes is simple referring to the many, many cranes in the beautiful fields. We have seen a lot of construction going on in Europe as a whole.

On our first night in Tavarnelle, we ate one of the best meals of our lives. We liked it so much that we went back last night. The pumpkin-filled raviola dressed with truffles was intoxicating as was the Tiramisu. The wine was equally enchanting. We even had a fantastic lunch yesterday. Everywhere we have eaten in Tuscany has been way above average. Finally, this is what real Italian food tastes like!

Today I haven't felt too awesome. I think I've caught the flu that Lindsey had. Nonetheless Florence has been really beautiful, aside from the thousands of street vendors and gypsies assaulting you that is. We went to the Duoma which really is one of the most beautiful sites in all of Europe. Pictures just don't do it justice. We also visited the statue "David."

Time's run out so we gotta say goodbye!

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