Geo: 43.3187, 11.3305Buonasera all:It was a rainy day Sunday in Siena, so it was a great day for some indoor spirituality and a winery tour to a quaint hill town south of Siena, Montalcino, almost 2000' above sea level and the home of the most famous and robust product of the Sangiovese grape, Brunello di Montalcino.The morning was spent at the Santuary of St. Catherine, which was created around her childhood home. She was known for persuading the pope to return to Rome from Avignon, France when she was a young Dominican nun, and after her death went on to become the patron saint of Siena and Europe.In the afternoon, we took a field trip to two wineries in the Montalcino area south of Siena -- one a small family winery within the old city walls, ... read more

Geo: 43.3187, 11.3305Ciao all:Friday, April 27 was moving day. We ended our 4-day stay in Firenze (Florence), packed our bags, and jumped on a bus for the medieval city of Siena, an hour or so south.But first, we had one more museum to see, the Duomo Museum that houses all the original paintings and sculptures from the cathedral for safe keeping, restoration, and public display. Two remarkable works are worth noting, among the most amazing pieces we've seen this week: Michelangelo's Pieta and Donatello's Maddalena (Mary Magdalene). The museum also had a great history and workshop space on the design and building of the cathedral and Brunelleschi's dome.Then, off to Siena, where we arrived and settled in early enough to head out for our usual Friday night pizza -- had eggplant, zucchini, and non-marinated artichokes on ... read more

Geo: 43.7687, 11.2569Bongiorno all:Falling further and further behind on these blog entries, this being Friday morning and getting ready to check out of our wonderful hotel in Florence (Firenze) and head south to Siena.Wednesday was another full day of art, architecture, romance, and walking. We started the day at the Museum of San Marco, a 15th century monastery housing an incredible collection of frescoes by Fra Angelico. The upstairs has 43 cells (living rooms) decorated by Angelico and his assistants. Quite spiritually engaging.Then, onto the Ponte Vecchio to browse for Mike's temporary, replacement wedding ring (yes, Albert, Mike is quite conscious of his naked left ring finger), but that turned into just a nice walk through the historic city on a lovely day, because it was onto the moment Kate has been waiting for -- our ... read more

Geo: 43.7687, 11.2569Ciao all:Completed our long trip to Florence this afternoon after yesterday's PDX-Phoenix-Philadelphia legs, the transatlantic Philadelphia-to-Brussels overnight, and a short 2-hour hop from Belgium to Florence, Tuscany, Italy. Can never (and couldn't again) find a position comfortable enough in which to sleep on the 7+ hour overnight, so we arrived a bit dazed to sunny Florence skies, bussed to the main train station on the edge of the historic downtown area, then navigated cobblestone sidewalks and streets the last mile by foot and rolling carryons past the Duomo to our B&B, which didn't stay our B&B for long.The place just wasn't right for a 25th anniversary celebration trip, and after an hour of the husband-wife managers yelling and screaming at each other (the way we took it that they carried on conversations), Mike went ... read more

Geo: 44.95, -123.02Buonasera!This is a quick launch of our 25th Anniversary Trip to Italy blog and it's nice to have you along as a cyber travel companion.If you'd rather not be part of the blog notification e-mails, let me know ASAP and I'll spare you the travelogues. Rick Steves I'm not!Sharon and I depart PDX Sunday AM for Florence (Firenze), Tuscany, Italy by way of Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Brussels . . . the cheap fare milk run. At least it will give us plenty of opportunity for getting up and down and walking around. Ashley and Charlie will be holding down the fort in Salem, with a little help from neighbors Darlene and Melissa, who don't seem the least bit phased by Charlie's thunderous, roof-raising barking.We arrive in Florence (which is 9 hours ahead of Pacific ... read more