Jeff and Lauren's 2006 Italy Experience

After arriving, we drove by Windsor Castle (gigantic!) and Eaton for my first taste of Britain.  We refreshed at Shannon and Alex's flat with a quick shower and a quick few miles of running to shock the system after that 11 hour flight (and to make our bodies forget that it should be 7 in the morning).  We then sped off to London for dinner at Indigo in Covent Garden and a driving tour of the sites: Big Ben, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Parliament, and Buckingham Palace.  Lauren and I promptly then passed out on the drive back to Maidenhead and bed!

Alex and Shannon in Covent Garden	Alex and Shannon in Covent Garden	The Big Ben clock tower (I didn't realize Big Ben was actually the bell)	A spooky picture of Westminster Abbey with a little light	A really dark, spooky picture of Westminster Abbey
St. Paul's Cathedral - it's ginormous!	Tower Bridge - blurry and in motion for the MTV generation	Tower Bridge - side view from an adjacent bridge	The Tower of London off in the distance	A well lit nighttime picture of the Tower of London

 

We arrived in Rome without incident and customs was a breeze.  Our driver met us in the greeting area and gave us a quick tour of Rome on our way through to the Hotel Farnese a bit NE of the Vatican.  Cute guy, he tried his best to play tour guide for us in broken English - but we caught the general idea of what he was trying to say.  We saw so many amazing things from the road that we hope to visit in more detail over the next few days: the ruins of Caesar's Palace, St. Peter's Basilica, too many piazzas to mention, the list goes on...  The Hotel Farnese upon our arrival was wonderful!  They took wonderful care of us, our room is absolutely gorgeous (I am writing this from our lovely, large patio looking out over the beautiful courtyard with a light Easter morning breeze - I'll post pics soon of us enjoying some vino rosso on the patio, I promise).  We took a few minutes to unpack and get ready for our first foray into the streets of Rome for our 9:30 dinner - late for us, normal time for Italians.

Dinner in Rome, Night 1: La Veranda in the Hotel Columbus about two blocks away from the Vatican.  The food was very, very good and the service was wonderfully friendly.  They all spoke English at least moderately well, so it was a great time trying to use our Italian (mixed with Lauren's French and my Spanish on occasion) but, hey, it worked!  Though each dish was great - the prawn-stuff zucchini flowers Antipasti were nice, and the first course pasta dishes were so huge, but so good - the hit of the meal was the incredible Tuscan wine from the Antinori vineyard - Tignanello.  We'll be keeping an eye out for that!  After our delightful, grand, and ultimately reasonably priced meal we wandered over to St. Peter's Basilica.

The Vatican was crowded with people in preparation for Easter at 11 p.m.  The square had several large television displays with last year's Easter services rebroadcast for the several thousands of people awaiting the arrival of Easter.   Words cannot describe how absolutely amazing and overwhelming the views are at night - the columns, the fountains, the tall buildings, the statues, and knowing that in just twelve hours we'll be right back here watching the Pope with about a half million other people.  I hope these pictures do some justice to to the grandiosity of the event - the first set are pictures, the second set are quick video clips.  Thanks to Lauren (well, actually the top of her head) for acting as the tripod since the camera needed a slow shutter speed in order for the pictures to turn out.

Pictures

Video Clips

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel then headed over to the Vatican.  Before I get too involved with the events of the day, however, let me take a moment to plug the Hotel Farnese where we are residing while in Rome.  It is small (22 rooms), absolutely lovely, and the staff is absolutely amazing.  We are within walking distance of anything we would care to see and would absolutely recommend this hotel to anyone considering a visit to Rome.

We arrived at the Vatican at about 9 a.m. for the 10:30 service expecting the square approaching St. Peter's Basilica to be full.  In some respects it was, as it was barricaded and only people with tickets were allowed in (our tickets, unfortunately, did not come through) but we were able to find a position in the center along the barrier.  The service was performed in every language imaginable - quite literally at the end when the pope gave his blessing in about 100 (not kidding) different languages.  When we first arrived the square wasn't very full, and the streets leading to the Basilica were empty.  In the next few hours we were surrounded by people for as far as the eye could see.  Considering that I estimate costs, and not people, take my estimates of the number of people with a grain of salt, but I expect that several hundred thousand people either directly saw or heard the mass in the streets and squares immediately surrounding the Vatican.  We took several pictures and videos; I have posted a selection here, but will post a more comprehensive selection of pictures and edited videos upon our return - we were so far away that the super-mega-colossus-zoom lens made it very difficult to get videos that weren't outrageously jumpy.  This was made even more difficult thanks to our highly desirable position in the free viewing area and the constant jostling we experienced.

After the service we enjoyed lunch at Les Etoiles in the Atlante Star Hotel.  The view spanned the rooftops around the Vatican and included St. Peter's Basilica and the balcony the Pope used to address the masses at the end of the service.  We had a nice 3-course meal and a lovely little bottle of Prosecco to commemorate the occasion.  We also made some new friends that will be joining us during the remainder of our trip - the Peeps that accompanied our dessert.  Watch for random pictures of our new friends over the next several days...

After lunch we took some pictures of the Peeps at the Castel Sant' Angelo, then headed across the river to visit the Pantheon.  Large, beautiful, crowded, and "big hole in the roof" are the only ways to describe this stop.  On the return trip we spent some time at the Piazza Navona prior to purchasing some gelato and returning to the hotel for a well deserved nap after all the walking and hours of standing.

Dinner was at Il Ristorante 34 near the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Poppolo.  This place is much more true Italian than the other places we've eaten so far.  It was loud, fun, and the food was very reasonably priced (as with all Italian restaurants you are expected to eat an appetizer, first course, meat course, and dessert - so it is never truly inexpensive and always takes a couple of hours).  We walked over to the Spanish steps, sang along with some guitar playing singers playing music with a fun crowd, and enjoyed the view from the top prior to returning back to the hotel for a good sleep.

On the way to the Vatican, and Easter Mass

Scooters! The Smart Car! I want one! The Vatican Guards hamming it up for the cameras St. Peter's Basilica - it really is tremendously large Lauren waiting for Easter Mass to start Jeff doing the same Near the end of Easter Mass, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people

Post-Easter Service

View of St. Peter's Basilica from our table at Les Etoiles during lunch Peeps hanging out at Castel Sant' Angelo The other side of Castel Sant' Angelo Palazzo di Giustizia Peeps looking back at St. Peter's Basilica from Ponte Umberto I The entrance to the Pantheon The hole (oculus) in the dome of the Pantheon A beautiful building between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona Another beautiful building in the same area Lauren in Piazza Navona Piazza Navona Jeff in Piazza Navona The base of the obelish in Piazza Navona Lauren in Piazza del Popolo at night Marcus! A Lamborghini as you requested - I couldn't get it through customs, though... The street where we had dinner The little Italian children that entertained us during dinner Lauren at the Spanish Steps at night St. Peter's Basilica at night as seen from the Spanish Steps The Ferrari F1 car from the Ferrari museum near the Spanish Steps

Video Clips

So... something funny happened on the way to the Forum.  Not really, but I've always wanted to say that.  We started off the day by taking a Metro (subway) ride to Termini (the big train station) to buy new tickets for our return from Firenze as we will be returning to Rome a day earlier in order to make our Monday flight.  Once the official business was taken care of, we wandered through the meandering streets, through the ruins of Domus Aurea, and on to the giant Colosseo!  We've all seen the pictures, but to see this in reality was absolutely amazing.  We were awestruck by the enormity of the structure and the brutal grace it displayed (if you see it in person, that oxymoron will make complete sense).  We can't recommend this enough: jump ahead through the line to take a group tour.  It cost us an extra 4 Euros but saved us 45 minutes in line and we learned so much more about the history of the Colosseum than we could have otherwise.

After the Colosseo tour, we wandered through the ancient ruins of Foro Romano.  I am actually having a very difficult time putting into words how amazing the sights and sense of overwhelming history that surrounded us were.  Everywhere we looked was a new, breathtaking site filled with history and legends that spun a story in front of us.  We took many pictures, but will post a selection here of our favorites - and point you to the larger collections of high- and lo-resolution pictures if you would like to see more later.

Upon our egress from the ruins we had no clue where we were, so we aimlessly wandered the twisting corridors trying to find something familiar and a street that registered on our maps.  In the process, we stumbled upon some amazing sites such as the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II in the Piazza Venezia, Palazzo del Quirinale in Piazza Quirinale (the seat of the Presidency of the Italian Republic - much like our White House in the United States), the Trevi Fountain, the Temple Adriano... and realized that we were back near the Pantheon and Piazza Navona!  Today was a national holiday, so all the streets were jammed with people and very few of the shops were open (as was the case all weekend).  I think we found where everyone was headed!  The Trevi Fountain!  It was so packed with people that we stayed just long enough to take a picture and promised ourselves that we'd come back another time during the week when it was certain to be much less crowded.  Since we'd seen the Pantheon and Piazza Navona already and were getting mighty hungry after all the walking, we crossed the river and had an overwhelmingly filling lunch at a pizzeria followed by nice little nap back at the hotel and nice long run along the Tiber River.  The day was capped by a nice "little" meal (no meal is little in an Italian ristorante) at Il Valentino near the Piazza del Popolo.

An assortment of pictures from the Colosseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, and the walk back to our hotel:

 

We headed toward the Vatican for our tour of the museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica.  Once we arrived at the Basilica we were quite glad that we booked a tour since the line to enter the Basilica wrapped all the around the square and back again - we hear the line was about 4 hours long.  Fortunately we only had to stand in the security line, which was only about 1 hour and lined with pickpockets (our tour guide warned us so we were prepared and faced no losses).  Our three-hour tour of the Vatican became a 4.5-hour tour by the time we finished.  Though we booked with Odyssey tours initially, our tour group was so large we were split into two groups and Julia from When In Rome Tours took our group.  She was absolutely fabulous, and entertained us with the history, rumors, and scandals behind the Vatican and the art it contains.  It is commonly believed that if you were to spend 30 seconds in front of every piece of work in the Vatican and its museums it would take you 12 years to see it all, much longer if you opted to eat and sleep.  I won't be able to do any of what we saw inside justice, but we toured through a small portion of one segment of the museum, the Sistine Chapel (no pictures are allowed to be taken by tourists), and St. Peter's Basilica.  I've posted a small selection of pictures here, and upon our return to the United States will offer up a more comprehensive posting of high-res pictures.

After our exhausting tour of the Vatican we briefly returned to the hotel, then headed off for dinner.  We experienced our first Rome taxi ride up narrow winding roads to the top of a hill in the rain.  We survived.  Drivers in Rome are well known for following their own set of rules (many roads don't bother with lines between lanes as they aren't used, anyway), and the only real reason they stop for pedestrians is because it might make them even more late for their appointment.

Dinner was at Antico Arco; this was easily the best meal we've had while in Rome so far.  It was the first tasting menu we experienced here, and we were showered with delights like: a mozzarella, tomato, and pesto appetizer in a very light pastry crust; hollow tubular noodles in a black truffle sauce; ravioli filled with cod and an amazing sauce; wonderful cuts of lamb perfectly cooked and served, once again, in an amazing sauce; and an amazing cappuccino soufflé.  All for about €140 including a lovely bottle of wine.  Unheard of in Los Angeles.

A small selection of the many beautiful works of art we saw that day:

 

Our friends the Peeps stopped over in the afternoon for a glass of wine on the balcony with us.  Such fun people, those Peeps.

The balcony off our room at Hotel Farnese	The Peeps enjoying a nice bottle of wine on the balcony	It appears the Peeps enjoyed the wine a bit too much.

The Museo Borghese is booked only in advance, and they appear to be quite rigid about the times visitors pick up their tickets, are allowed in, and the length of their stay.  After the Theo Incident we had to take a taxi to make our 9 a.m. reservation, and only barely made it in time.  The museum was quite beautiful, but after a day at the Vatican whatever follows will only pale in comparison.  There were a couple of great statues, however we were not allowed to take in cameras so we will not be able to share this experience.

We walked back down to the Spanish Steps, wandered around some of the shopping areas, and commenced our search for a cellular phone that we could use in a "pay as you go" fashion in case of any more Theo emergencies.  Unfortunately, such a thing doesn't exist in Italy, but we were able to conjure up something that would work.

Since this was initially planned to be our last night in Rome, Lauren made reservations at arguably the best restaurant in Rome: La Pergola.  The view from this ristorante, situated on the top floor of a very nice Hilton on a hill overlooking the city, was commanding and our first chance to see Rome from above at night.  As amazing as the view proved to be, the food was even better.  No offense to Antico Arco, but this was easily the best meal we had while in Rome.  Surprisingly, this might also be one of the best meals we've ever experienced.  The meal was prepared by a celebrity German chef using Italian influences and ingredients, with a bit of a French edge.  Amazing.  Seven courses, a lovely wine pairing, an outrageously attentive staff, and the view combined to make this a truly surreal experience.  We took pictures of all but one course (we decided to take pictures during the second course, so we missed out on the first course and were lucky enough to take a picture of the amuse bouche of an adjacent table).  The menu (to be updated when we return to Rome and find the menu they printed for us, complete with wine pairings):

Amuse Bouche: Fennel Five Ways

1. Scampi Carpaccio with Tequila Shaved Ice

2. Tortellini with beans

3. Mediterranean Sea Bass with a sorbet (of pear?) on top

4. Pigeon Breast and warm frothed orange juice

5. Lamb and Sweetbreads

6. Cheese, cheese, and more cheese

7. The Grand Dessert

The view of Piazza del Popolo from above	Another view of Piazza del Popolo	The southern end of Piazza del Popolo	The fountain at Piazza del Popolo	Spanish Steps by day
Our table at La Pergola	A sample of the view from our table	Lauren's purse seat	Enjoying our meal with restrained glee	Amuse Bouche ready for the adjacent table
Course #2 - Tortellini	Course #3: Meditteranean Sea Bass	Course #4: Pigeon Breast	Course #5: Lamb	Course #6: Cheese Tray
The dessert candles replaced the meal votive candles.	Course #6: The Grand Dessert	The Grand Dessert deserved two pictures.	Woooo! I'm full!	Even more dessert with our espresso
The lovely espresso cups	The ancient ruins of Lauren's dessert samplings

 

Somebody once told Lauren that the Italian trains run like clockwork.  They weren't kidding.  Departure time for our train to Firenze (Florence) was 12:55.  The train was pulling out of the yard at 12:55.  The seats fully recline, the ride is smooth, and the countryside is beautiful.  The Peeps also enjoyed the ride, but since they didn't have tickets of their own they had to hide in anticipation of the ticket taker coming around.  Once he passed by without noticing them, they were able to relax and enjoy the rest of view of the countryside.

We arrived in Firenze on time, jumped in a taxi for a wild taxi ride through narrow streets, and checked in to the Hotel Torre Guelfa about a block off the Ponte Vecchio.  We unpacked and headed out to the streets to a wine bar for a late lunch and glass of wine.  Bread soup here is highly recommended.  We returned to the hotel, got online for a few minutes (and found out that T-Mobile has fixed my phone access, so we are fully accessible via my cellular phone and work e-mail), then headed up to the tower for some wine.  The tower at our hotel is the tallest privately owned tower in the city - the view is absolutely amazing.  We had a 360-degree view over the rooftops of the town and could clearly see every major building in the city.

After the amazing rooftop experience we headed out for dinner to Cibreo, a hip ristorante that serves daring and interesting foods.  Reservations are difficult to obtain, but Lauren secured us a spot far enough in advance for a fashionably timed 9:30 seating.  We were excited as we walked in and anxious to experience the interesting food selections.  Let's just say we were left a little flat - the food was good, but the choices were for the truly adventurous (tripe, lamb's brain, calf's foot, lamb shoulder, and the list goes on).  We opted for less adventurous fare such as shark and whole pigeon, then watched with disappointment as the service started to falter.  It appears this restaurant is a little too proud of itself, so we highly recommend not dining here.

Peeps on the train	Santa Maria Novella from the train station in Florence	A taste of the grandeur of our suite at the Hotel Torre Guelfa	Lauren in front of the Ponte Vecchio	The crowded streets of Firenze with Duomo's always looming presence
A view up the river from the Ponte Vecchio	The walkway along the river from the Ponte Vecchio	The Torre Guelfa's rooftop patio from the street	A carriage echoing down the streets below our window at the hotel	This isn't an alley, this is actually a real street in Firenze.
A sampling of views from the rooftop: Duomo	and around we go...	...	...	...
A lovely rainbow in a perfect location	Toasting our friends and family - wish you all could be here!	Looking down on the rooftop patios of other houses	Nighttime in the city streets of Firenze...	...
...	... capped off by Dante.

The first leg of our tour took us to Tenuta Torciano just outside of San Gimignano.  This family winery has properties in several regions of Tuscany, and we were given an absolutely amazing tasting experience by the member of the family.  He LOVES his wine, and we went through a fascinating "school of wine" experience where he taught us how to taste and experience wine.  Lovely.  We had a grand time with our new friends from New Orleans and Boston who were on our tour, and some folks from Chicago that were staying at the winery.  The wine was absolutely amazing, and we purchased a couple of cases that should be arriving in about a month.  Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello, and a slew of Super Tuscans.  Yeehaw!

Our next stop was the city of San Gimignano for lunch.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.  The city, the entire drive, the countryside... if we had a mechanical breakdown and the bus were stranded for a month not one of us on the tour would have minded a bit.  The weather was absolutely beautiful: sunny and warm... and then the thunderstorms rolled in as we headed out for Casa Sola.  Rain, hail, and lightening couldn't stop our fun!  We took a tour of the Casa Sola grounds and the winemaking facility prior to our tasting.  The experience was quite different from Tenuta Torciano and the wines not as good, but we still had a good time.  We purchased some bottles of their best wines and olive oils, then headed back to Firenze.  The whole experience was really quite fun, even when a large truck splashed water on our windshield on the highway and we all thought for a few brief seconds we were going to perish.  Italia!  I took nearly 100 pictures today, so I will only post the best of the best here - stay tuned for the full portfolio when we return to Los Angeles.

Firenze in the morning	Ponte Vecchio in the morning - notice the difference in crowd size	Up the river from the Ponte Vecchio	Gelati before the day begins - it will be gone by the end of the day	Interesting views abound up many a narrow road in Firenze
On the way to Piazzele Michelangelo	The tower at the base of the steps leading up, way up, to Piazzele Michelangelo	The first in a series of interesting alcoves on the way up.	The line of alcoves	A sampling of the various pathways and steps leading up the hill
Lamp posts with feet!	The Ponte Vecchio from Piazzele Michelangelo	Soaking in the view from up here	Lauren hanging out with David	The Peeps enjoyed chillin' with David, too
Still here at Piazzele Michelangelo	Peeps soaking in the expansive view	While we're up here, let's enjoy a view up the river through the mist	Part of the wine tasting experience at Tenuta Torciano - food!	Our "teacher" at wine school - and boy could he sell the wine!
The special tasting room we got to enjoy	One of many castles on distant hilltops that we sped by in Tuscany	The view of the valleys from San Gimignano	The entrance to San Gimignano	A sampling of the wares in the city
Selected views within San Gimignano	... continued ...	A puppy dog chillin' out in the sun	San Gimignano, continued ...	... why stop a good thing? ...
... ain't no stopping us now ...	... another pic bites the dust ...	The Peeps enjoyed their time in San Gimignano	A well in the square of San Gimignano	Phew! Outside the city gates again
The thunderstorms start rolling through Tuscany	Our arrival at Casa Sola!	A view of the Casa Sola office, house, pretty much everything	The friendly winery dog	The fancy gates at the winery
A view of a portion of the 160 hectares of farm	The vine-covered side of the house	The thunderstorms continue to pummel us	The not-as-friendly winery dog	A cask room!
The old cask graveyard	The cask aging room	The olive oil settling room	The Peeps enjoying some Vin Santo	Our tour group and the Casa Sola lady
Another picture after our return to Piazzele Michelangelo

Dinner for the night was at a quirky restaurant named La Giostra.  It's run by princes!  We're still not sure what they are princes of, however.  The decor was fun; blue lights adorn the ceiling in this cramped, loud, very fun place.  The food is reasonably priced, is absolutely wonderful, and they don't provide an English menu - everything is handwritten, photocopied, and put into fancy eclectic leather menu folders.  It was quite easy to navigate through the Italian menu and we ordered a nice selection of food kicked off with a glass of prosecco and a lovely bruschetta (with some fun and unique items) followed by prosciutto with melon, a wonderfully light gnocchi, risotto with porcini mushrooms, scottadito lamb, veal scaloppini, and a lovely dessert.  Since we drank so much red wine today we were pretty much wined out, so we had a fun prosecco.  Our best Firenze meal so far!  It was great!!!!!!!

A Peep giving my gnocchi a try	A Peep testing Lauren's risotto	The crazy chef - we apologize for the bad lighting	I'm full! Can't you just feel the excitement?	Oooooooooohhhhh! I'm full!
How rude! The Peeps fell asleep at the table near the end of dinner! Too much wine today, I guess.	Duomo at night. Duomo at night. Oh oh. Oh oh oh oh-oh-oh-oh	Duomo at night - dark and imposing

 

We walked over to the farmacia, loaded up on some more cold and cough remedies, then headed for the Uffizi.  I didn't realize until we were starting our exploration of the museum that the Uffizi houses a substantial collection of Renaissance art.  Impressive, but unfortunately that period isn't my favorite.  There were many beautiful and famous paintings, and I would love to share them with you but we weren't allowed to take pictures - even with the flash off (as I always do in museums).  I didn't find out until a guard yelled at me since they didn't really post any visible signs asking for pictures to not be taken - at least I assume that is what he said since it was in Italian and not too overtly hostile.  Oh, well.  Some of the famous and amazing works housed here include Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Primavera, da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi, Fiorentino's Musical Cherub, and Michelangelo's Doni Tondo.  The museum ended with a wonderful display of Leonardo da Vinci's work and an analysis of his insights.  I was fascinated by this and spent more time in these rooms than with the Renaissance paintings.

After leaving the Uffizi and skirting around some unknown political rally in Piazza Signoria we headed over to Duomo to take a shot at climbing up to the top of the dome (Lauren's trick knee this trip made it a gamble, but we hear the view was worth it).  The lines were far too long to endure in the summer-like heat, particularly considering I was dressed in a black shirt and jacket, so we headed over to Il Latini for lunch - a place you make sure and get in line before they open because you won't get in otherwise.  The seating is communal, and they do their best to channel people to the same table that might get along.  The bread and wine are obligatory and shared, the food is good and plentiful, the meat hangs from the ceiling, and you eat and chat until you can't eat and chat any longer.  We sat next to a lovely couple who live in London - I apologize if I spell their names incorrectly (or, even worse, get their names entirely wrong) but Kimberly is originally from Philadelphia and Steven from Australia.  We had so much fun!  Food just kept on coming!  The meat was giant and delicious.  The dessert was fabulous.  The wine was good.  When we finished they brought out the biscotti and Vin Santo.  When we just kept on sitting there chatting they brought out the espresso.  When we continued to sit and chat they brought out the Moscato.  They finally gave up and just brought us the bill (our not-so-subtle hint that it was time to go).  Lunch was great, and we truly enjoyed sharing it with such fun people.

After lunch we got lost looking for the ancient farmacia near Piazza Santa Maria Novella and ended up going shopping.  Yeehaw!  The day was gloriously sunny, which also means it was HOT!  Needless to say, all the walking around - with colds, in the heat, on full stomachs, filled with wine - didn't set well, so I am sitting on the bed trying to recuperate and catch up on our travel report while Lauren takes a nap (and you can be certain I will soon be doing the same).

We finished off the night feeling a bit too full, still, from the lunch and actually feeling a bit ill.  I ran out to grab us some some Sprite and simple sandwiches (not a simple task here), and we capped the night off by packing our bags, eating our meal, and watching a DVD of the old Mighty Joe Young movie while fending off the mosquitos.

The Uffizi - the picture taking ceases here for a few hours	Some unknown political rally in Piazza Signoria - we took some pictures then hurried away	One of the signs they were hanging - we have no clue what they were gathering and shouting about	Another sign - if you know what these mean, drop us a note!	Duomo by day. Duomo by day. Oh oh. Oh oh oh oh-oh-oh-oh!
The "front door" to the Duomo - random people included for scaling purposes	The front door in relation to the Duomo - remember how big the door was in relation to the people!?!?	Near the Piazza Santa Maria Novella	Santa Maria Novella	Ham hocks hanging from Il Latini's dining room ceiling - about 20 or more of these, actually...
The beef enjoyed by our table companions	My giant hunk of roast pork	Lauren's rabbit	The Peeps were kind enough to help Lauren finish off the rabbit	An English Pub filled with Gonzaga hoops fans in Florence! That just made my day! Next year: Final Four from Firenze?
An accidentally "cool" picture of Lauren - a reflection in the Pub's window	A random shop displaying very old(?), dusty bottles of wine in the window. I hope they aren't cellaring them there... can you say vinegar?

We headed over to the Accademia Gallery to see David and the other works of art.  Once again, no cameras, so we won't be able to share the sights.  Once again we saw a bevy of Renaissance paintings and a few significant sculptures.  We really love the sculptures and lingered in their presence (particularly David - very, very impressive) and spent much less time with the paintings.  This museum experience lasted a little over an hour, so our plans for the day were pretty much concluded by 10 a.m.  That left more time for shopping!  The only downside was that Sunday is the day most shops are closed down for their one day off per week (since many shops are run by the owners themselves).  We wandered over to Santa Croce to the "Leather School" to sample their wares - and bought myself a very handsome nubuck jacket. 

Lunch was at this great Trattoria, Borgo Antico in Piazza Santo Spirito, where we had a bunch of great food for a small price, then wandered around an adjacent farmers' market before continuing our shopping experience.  We wandered into a jewelry shop with some beautiful items looking for earrings to match an eclectic necklace I bought Lauren last year while in Aspen - it is a hard item to match with the jade, peridot, rose quarts, and other stones.  The shop owner didn't have anything that exactly matched, but she closed down the shop and took us over to her other shop, found multiple pairs of earrings that had peridot and rose quartz, and built Lauren some new, custom earrings on the spot for a great price.  The lady from Even Bijoux was super!  We then headed back to Hotel Torre Guelfa and camped out in the lobby (writing today's web posting, actually) prior to heading over to the train station for our return trip to Rome.  Since we had a ton of bags and an hour to kill, we each took turns at the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella while the other watched the bags at the train station.  This is one of the oldest pharmacies in the world, officially opened to the public in 1612, nearly four centuries after being established by the Dominican Fathers.  It is amazingly beautiful - to the eyes, nose, and touch.

All things considered, we loved, loved, loved Firenze.  If you remove the mosquito and hot water incidents, at least one of us going through head colds at any given time, and the Tuscan thunderstorms, it was a heavenly time.  Heck, even with those issues we had a simply wonderful experience and are looking forward to our return trip to Italy in the hopefully not-too-distant future.

The night concluded with an uneventful train ride back to Rome, a long wait for  a taxi, and our return to Hotel Farnese.  It almost felt like we were coming home, it felt so good to be back at our lovely little hotel home in Rome and to be greeted at the door  by Andrea.  He promptly got us some dinner reservations at a fun little restaurant down the road, San Marco, for our last meal out in Italy.  The food was good (fried artichokes and a salad to start, a couple of delicious pizzas, and some dessert), the wine was great, we had fun, and the Peeps even made a guest appearance!  We didn't arrive at the restaurant until a bit after 10 that night, and I am so glad Andrea called to make us a reservation.  Who would have thought a restaurant could be so crowded at that time of night on a Sunday?  So, we finished dinner at our new usual dinner commencement time of 11:30 at night, went back to the hotel to repack our bags, and went to sleep in our new room - a similar room, but this time our balcony overlooked the front entrance and was adorned with several flags.

Ever see a Pug retrieve? We did in Piazza Santa Croce!	A whole pack of nuns walking from Santa Croce	Inside the Santa Croce compound looking through the front gates	The view from Piazza della Signoria looking back to the Uffizi	One of many statues in Piazza della Signoria
... along with replicas of many sculptures found in the museums in the city, like David from the Accademia ...	... one we didn't see, and don't know the name of, but thought it looked cool ...	... the inappropriately named Rape of the Sabine Women (not the intent of the sculptor) in the Accademia ...	... Hercules and Nessus the Centaur in the Uffizi ...	... and one we didn't see, but looks similar to an Apolo and Daphne sculpture we had seen previously.
A dog that looks a lot like Theo chilling out in Piazza della Signoria while his owner does his street performance	The sites crossing the Ponte Alla Carraia	The Santo Spirito	Santa Spirito with a little buddy looking over its shoulder	This pizza was deeeeeeeeeelicious!
The wind kicked up a strangely beautiful leaf storm during lunch	The Peeps offered to help Lauren with her leftover pizza crust	A fountain between Piazza Santo Spirito and Piazza de' Pitti	A beautiful tower on the south side of the river	Horses and carriages clomping down the road where our hotel is located
The tower at Casa di Dante	Casa di Dante (tower is to the right)	The ceiling at Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella - established in 1612	The front counter - no self service here!	The products on display in locked cabinets on one side...
... and the other	One of the sculptures in the red carpet entry...	... opposed by this sculpture on the other.	A quick peek at our new room for the night at Hotel Farnese - our last night in Italy	A Peep tried to sneak some of the rocket (OK, arugula) when it thought we weren't looking
The fried artichokes were yuuuuuummmmmy!	This place was still hoppin' at 11:30 on a Sunday night when we left. Got to love the Italian dinner time.