Cristallino Montecatini Terme

... and we stayed until we were ready to retire for the evening.<br><br>Sat 14 Nov<br>Next day we had a sleep-in and then went for a run around the 4km city walls. Twice around was enough for Kim and I managed a 3rd. After a shower we were back in town for more meandering and I had one of the best Cupuccio's (Capuccino) ever!! We found a few hours during siesta to catch up with the ...

... Vecchio, the city provides a rich view into the splendorous birthplace of modern western culture. <br><br>We had our pal, Rick Steves, with us again today as we toured the Galeria Degli Uffizi, which houses the largest collection of Renaissance paintings in the world. It was incredible to see the difference in quality between the great artists of the time, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo, and the lesser-known artists. There was a ...

... was a full hour and nicely walked us through the entire structure. (Note to travelers: you can buy tickets to the Colosseum at the bottom of Palatine Hill and there isn't a line! It's a little secret!) The tidbits of knowledge Rick provided were fantastic: we saw the remnants of the elevators used to lower and raise set changes/people/animals on &amp; off the main floor, the thumbs up/down the crowds used to vote on whether someone should ...

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!

... a couple blocks to the phone booth that is there and called my top three (bro, cousin, girl), effectively emptying my phone card. Quality minutes, though. I now know where and when I will be staying in Italy for the week with the cuz, so I can start that ball rolling whenever I want (tomorrow, please). After I got off the phone, I went back to the hotel to find my parents in midway to their first course of dinner, so I played catch up. They had ...

... day (good for me for one-on-one learning, good for him for pay) just to review concepts that I don't get. I will be getting probably more in-depth training in this class than in any class I have ever taken, and it rocks! After class, I discussed some of the odds and ends with Tomaso, then walked home and we had another apartment over for dinner. Evan and Tai wanted to cook some fish, but since Dhru is a vegetarian (eats eggs and milk, but no more), and I hate most ...

This morning we were booked in for a demonstration of leatherwork and gold/silver work. However, we were trying to fit in both the Uffizi gallery and the Galleria dell' Academia, neither of which we'd booked ahead for (something which is apparently essential unless you want to spend hours waiting in line). So we used Bernie's vegetarianism as an excuse to get out of it. Unfortunately Bernie's sense of direction is a little less than perfect and so instead of winding up at the Uffizi ...

... marble and is crazy ornate. No photos will do it justice, but I sure did try. Then, we went to the Ponte Vecchio and shopped for gold - not so much. Then we had dinner, which was pretty good. Now we're back at the hotel and getting ready for bed. We have a big day going to Rome tomorrow. Internet is crazy expensive here, but you guys are worth it. Love you, miss you!! XOXOXO Lorin &amp; Jason

... or I am anymore. Whatever, just walk. Florence has signs pointing the way to churches and sights so I wasn't really lost. Happened next upon the famous Ponte Vecchio, which was just a strange looking bridge with a lot of expensive shops along both sides of it. Not that spectacular, but the surrounding area of Florence was admitedly quite attractive. The ugly colored river, but with lovely green hills all around the city. After the bridge, which was way overcrowded, I just continued up the ...