WE HEART FLORENCE!!!!!

Jill and I are loving Florence.  Starting in the intense chaos of Rome, to the tranquil Siena, Florence is an ideal in between since it has more of a small town feel with lots to do.  So much beauty so much sculpture and don't even get us started on the shopping.  Last night was absolutely gorgeous as we watched the sunset from Ponte Vecchio (famous bridge in Florence) overlooking the Fuime Arno (river). 

We continue to meet interesting and fun people along the way.  As we were sitting at dinner one night, two German grandpas beside us began conversing with us in quite limited English.  Albert and Gero met earlier in the week during their group tour from Germany. Since Gero (on the left) knew more English... he became our translator and we enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to share a bottle of wine and learned the word for Cheers! in German is Prosit... or you can say Zumwold (to your health).

We had drinks the next night with a couple that lives in Vancouver. Vern plays in the symphony and played all the music for the Olympic medal ceremonies for the events that took place in Whistler, at the Winter Games. His wife is from Australia. We had met them earlier in the evening at a piazza, when we stopped and asked if they would take our picture for us. So, when we saw them that night, we decided to have a chat.

Still eating our way around Italy, in Florence we have sampled noodles with wild boar sauce and ribollita (traditional Tuscan soup with tomatoes, veggies basil, and bread) and have loved it all.  We tried a calamari zuppa (soup) last night that was fantastic.
One night at a nearby Piazza, there was a musician playing for a crowd of people.  His choice of songs were a little familiar... including Let it Be, With or Without You, & the Sounds of Silence which were great for crowd singalongs.  Along the way back to the hotel, we saw many illegal vendors who could put down their wares and scoop them back up again in a blink of an eye whenever the police came thru.  They can be quite aggressive here and one chased Jill and I down the road after we glanced over at his "Gucci" purse.

We did manage to find the Accademia which houses the sculpture David.  We were again wowed by Michaelango's talent as much as we were with the Sistine Chapel.  Especially when you looked thru the other rooms full of sculpture created 200 plus years after and with not nearly the incredible skill as Michaelango.  Vern is going to send us a picture bc he was able to take one when a guard turned the other way. During our visit, they were more strict... no photos.

Above is the Duomo in Florence. At one time it was the largest Cathedral in Italy... now it is only the 4th largest... still it is so big, we could not capture the whole thing into one photo.
Since we love Florence so much we have decided to stay another night.  We lucked out when our quite noisy hotel was booked for this evening and the much nicer (and quieter) hotel on the floor below was available.  And the guy at the desk even came down on the price when we mentioned how much cheaper the other hotel was.   Nice!!

Ciao for now,
Jaime and Jill