Firenze.

I have really enjoyed my time in Florence for many reasons. One of the key advantages of Florence, or Firenze, over Rome is the pace of the city -- traffic is less congested, the number of people is much less, and overall people go through their day much slower. It has been very relaxing even given a city of its size. We have visited the more popular museums including the Academia Galleria where Michaelangelo's "David" is; and also the Uffizi Museum which holds many famous Renaissance pieces including "The Birth of Venus" (which is the painting featured in the introduction to the show 'Desperate Housewives') by Botticelli (c. 1485). One of the coolest pieces for me was a portrait of Martin Luther painted when he was in his 40s...just to imagine and wrap my mind around not only that a piece of art was so old (this obviously not the oldest piece by far) but moreover that Luther had sat for an artist, as he painted this during his life -- a "live" picture of Luther -- was just really cool to think about. We also toured the popular Duomo and climbed to the top. The stairs up slant inward and it was very awesome with spectacular views of the city; which looked as we had all imagined quintessential Florence to look like.

We also spent time shopping at the various shops selling locally produced leather (purses, satchels, belts, wallets, etc), gold (most of the shops being established in the 16th c.), and other valuables. These shops are so old! I have always found it challenging to comprehend the amount of history in so many places in Europe when compared with the relatively (very) short history of the United States.

Today we took a day trip to Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa (all in the Tuscan valley). Of course, seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa was a definite highlight (and yes, it's still leaning) but I much enjoyed our lunch as well on an organic farm. The meal consisted of four courses including a delicious pasta, greek salad with cheese and boar salami, and let us not forget the four wines we were able to enjoy as well. All our guides at the various locations were fantastic and the day was truly delightful. Tomorrow we will have a leisurely day in Florence, with more shopping and eating and drinking. Then, Shannon and I will continue onto Greece via a flight through Rome to Thessaloniki while the parents have to head home to return to "work" as apparently that's what they do for a living -- such a foreign concept to some of us. I think Shannon may be ready to head home, but hopefully a change of scenery and new country will perk her mood up for a final ten days of travel.

CM