Friday, May 21st: found my mom abandoned, standing by herself on the side of the roadThis was going to be a very exciting day for my dad…a dream come true!!! We woke up to another glorious and sunny morning, and went down to the neighborhood coffee bar for our regular sustenance. We had to catch the train into Florence to meet our Vespa tour guides!!! We were advised to meet at 9:30 in front of the McDonalds, which was in front of the Santa Maria Novella train station. Since we arrived early, we took advantage of using their bathroom, and got another espresso from the annex called McCafe…a very fancy café that served yummy coffee drinks and gourmet pastries…I know what you are thinking…gourmet and McDonalds? Well in Europe, it’s true! The seating looks like you ... read more

Wednesday, May 19th: Clouds were rolling in this morning, so we wondered if it would rain at all, since yesterday was so nice! And…my voice stared to return! Yay!! We ate our breakfast, (yes…Nutella again…yum…) and then walked down to the tower kitchen for our second day of cooking class. Today was the more expensive and more in-depth class, so I had just signed myself up for it. I had arranged for Kenya to observe the class, read, and play her DS player during the class (I bought her two new games and surprised her with them that morning). So we walked in the front door and met the other chef that teaches classes. His name was Alberto, and he was blond and approx. 30 years old. He preferred Abba and Queen over opera, so we ... read more

Monday morning: Uh oh…you know how I mentioned that I was sick? Well my throat had gotten worse, it seemed, overnight, plus my right eye was welded shut!! When I finally took a shower and pried my eye open, it was super red! I thought I might have pink eye! (Never had it before). Well I had read somewhere that if you go to the hospital in Italy, they would treat you for free, even if you are from another country. So, it was about 7:00 in the morning, and after hemming and hawing for about 20 minutes, and knowing we had to check out by 11:00, I decided we needed to take a taxi to the nearest E.R. What an adventure! So, we arrived at this huge, huge facility, and went right in to the ... read more

Saturday morning: Today was our day to go to the Vatican Museum!! We ate breakfast at the little cafe downstairs…I had oatmeal with apples, and Kenya had some homemade bread with Nutella. It was sooo good! Then we went over to the train station to catch the subway to the Vatican City. We successfully bought our tickets at the Biglieterri, and promptly ran to catch the subway…in the wrong direction! so we got off on the next stop, and had to all the way back up and run back down to catch that one going the right way! We rode all the way to the stop called “Ottaviano”. When we got out, luckily we just had to follow the rest of the crowd over to the city wall. We were quite a bit early, so ... read more

7:00 a.m. So, the day has arrived!!! I still feel like it is not here yet!! I guess I may start getting excited at the airport? I know Kenya has had a permanent grin on her face since she has gotten up…lol… I am without voice this morning too…I guess Eric is blessed with another day of quiet!!! Going through everything at the airport will be sooo much fun if I can’t talk!! 10:30 a.m. The drop off…I have been kind of dreading this for a few days…how will Eric react to us really leaving and being gone for a whole month? I felt a little melancholy on the way to the airport…sure enough, as soon as we said our goodbye’s he started crying and could barely get out of the parking lane…even under the ... read more