Italia

WOW! Sorry it has been so long but no internet service in the 1500 old farmhouse and cottage! So, have had to rely on internet cafe's and one is not always available or the traffic is so bad we can't find a parking space and give up. Below is what I wrote in a word document a couple of days ago.. 


Florence Italy...

Today was a real adventure. We got up to a beautiful breakfast of frittata with tomatoes,  a huge bowl of fruit, croissants, fresh preserves, honey, butter, Nutella, peanut butter, and great coffee...on a beautifully set table with a gorgeous Italian table cloth...very impressive! Then we navigated the mountain road down to Lucca to get the train to Florence...about 1 1/2 hours away. There is some English but mostly you better know some Italian words...but it really is amazing how few words you need to know to get by with!!! So, we got the train and then when they came to get our tickets, we got fined because we did not validate at the yellow box...5 Euros for the total of us four...geez, ya thing they could have told us...but if we had read our tour book it did tell us that :(!!

The train was very old and not as clean as the trains in England or as new...but we got there safe and sound. Florence is a big, bustling city with every tourist from every country there today...in other words it was crowded!!! And the lines to get into the museums were long...so we didn’t get to see David up close and personal, but did get into the Duomo, a life long dream of Katie’s and into the Uffizi to see all of the art of the 14th, 15th 16th and 17th century artists, a dream of Martha’s. Mind blowing to say the least, especially if you have ever taken Art History...here is what you have studied and read about right before your own eyes!!

Outside in the squares the art and sculptures are also amazing...and interspersed with McDonalds, Ben and Jerry’s and Footlocker. We had lunch at Il David’s...horrible service but the food was very good. The city is made up of narrow streets with century old buildings, cobble stone or dark brick roads, little cars, motorscooters or motorcycles, bicycles, and buses. So you take your life in your hands wherever you walk. The motorcycles and scooters do not care where you are because they are going to have the right of way...pretty interesting and sometimes frightening. And Katie got her foot caught in a hole in the street and down she went...sprained her ankle but all is well after finding an ankle wrap, Advil and Skelaktin...oh and some Vodka. 

We got home around 9 pm, which is still light, and made a great dinner of antipasto from different items in the refrigerator...Kathy is a super gourmet cook, so we have not gone hungry and Martha is wonderful about creating ambiance with candles and flowers...right out of a magazine. Tomorrow we are off to the coast to look around and see the beaches. We were going to hike but are giving all of us a rest...including Katie’s ankle. Will let you know how Thursday goes!