Boston Montecatini Terme

Kim had taken her grandma to Lucca last November and had fallen in love with the place. <br><br>We found a park not far from the city walls and then headed in for a look. We came across a chocolate festival in one of the piazzas and sampled a few beforw buying a hot cocolate drink...literally hot chocolate in a cup. It made me feel a bit sick.<br><br>Walking Lucca is like a big ...

... through that particular medium. In addition to sculpture, the City's architecture also reached back to try and capture the spirit and skill of the ancients. The Duomo was the first dome of its kind built in 1000 years, and Brunellechi studied Rome's Pantheon in preparation for his crowning achievement. <br><br>In addition to providing us with a great tour of the Uffizi, Rick Steves also put together a fantastic walking tour of the ...

... wasn't lettuce, it looked like a salad of roots!) but it was great to try it out. (Puntarelle at Giggetto)<br><br> Our train ride to Florence was only an hour and half and incredibly picturesque. It was great to enter the countryside after being in the hub of three major cities. It reinforced our love of small towns and it's **awesome** to be in this region. After arriving in Florence, we picked up our rental car and maneuvered our way through ...

Just realized those not on facebook haven't seen pictures from Pisa and Florence. No long recap of Anthony and I's weekend in Tuscany, for obvious reasons. Also note that "Anthony and Alison's Great Adventure" was like taking a knife.<br><br>Love you guys! :)<br>

... on the next hill. Drove all around the countryside (which I hate to say is much bigger and impressive than Napa). Wine is so cheap and good but unfortunately the majority of grapes had just been picked. Also ventured into Florence for two days of sightseeing. This is one place that is as magnificent as tpublished pictures!

... We will have a Cuban together before we leave. You understand my angst to have one with my pops if you know my pops and his normally anti behavior towards drinking and smoking. Along with the cigars, we had some limoncello to drink; lemon juice that is thicker and has a pretty high alcohol content. Good stuff. We smoked and only got up from our conversation about "life lessons" to see the replay of the goals in the Germany-Turkey game. It was a great end to a great day.

... belittle ourselves, even though we got duped into going in to the place as I am sure thousands have before us. We moved on a little further up the block and got a coffee and a little food, then stood on a little outshoot of concrete curb that we assumed would be a good beacon on which the others could see us. Once we had gathered up enough people to crowd the curb, we moved over to the side of a building and then loaded onto our bus. The bus had an entrance in the front and in the ...

... side note about this town is the abundance of the English language it is nearly impossible to go more then five steps without hearing someone speaking it. so the rain of the next day, and the abundance of Americans in the beautifully town made me more then happy to set out for the Tourist and Religious capital of Italy.... Rome. where I would work at an inn in the country side for ten days. while making brief forays into the craziness of the city.

... it was worth the wait! The David is really spectacular! Everyone we had talked to commented on how life-like it is, and from the veins on the hands, arms and neck to muscles to tendons in the joints that is certainly true. It also seemed, however, like Michelangelo captured a man's soul in the stone. The combination of the way he holds himself, facial expression and probably things well beyond me make the sculpture seem real in ...

... filled with military and army people dressed in a half dozen different costumes. Navy, army, carabinieri, and a few other I don't remember. They all lined up facing the basilica and beside the huge tower to the right. Then just after 11:30, music began to blast from a huge speaker, seding pigeons flying for cover. It could have been the Italian anthem, but I only ever hear that never so I don't know what it was. A bunch of men came into the square carrying flags and ...