Grand Hotel Nizza Et Suisse Montecatini Terme

... market (without the sampling) with lots of lovery deli's, cafe's and patisseries. Ofcourse we had to buy the local pastry called a buccellato which is kind of a cross between a biscuit and a fruit loaf... yummy with the morning coffee.<br><br>Before too long Kim pointed out her favorite bar from last time and pull me in to join her in a wine or 3. The tapas were as good as Kim had ...

Today was our last full day of enjoying all that Italy has to offer before beginning our journey back west tomorrow morning. Having had a couple of days off from major metropolitan areas, we decided to finish our journey in Florence, the city where the Renaissance began. The history of this former Italian capital is staggering, from Brunellechi's triumphant dome marking the start of the Renaissance to the Medici family's enclosure of ...

... we walked toward an Italian restaurant whose famous salad made my mouth water. Our guide told us about it our first night and I had been thinking about it ever since. We found this tiny restaurant in the twisted streets of the old Jewish ghetto and unfortunately, they weren't open yet. Oh, hum. <br><br>So we continued onward to the Colosseum where the blue skies provided an amazing backdrop to this richly historical site. Our Rick Steves ...

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>

Rented an apartment in a villa which was at the top of a mountain (like most villas in Tuscany), however, our journey to the top was not on a paved road which made for some challenging driving. The villa was really nice with its own pool and great view over the countryside. The owners also provided fabulous meals in their other ...

... walking. He backed off and we walked on, but not without some sort of far-off cursing by the swaying gentleman. See, the way I tell the story to the people here, he pulled a knife on me and I took him down with a Karate chop. Same thing. The rest of this story is about the nightlife, so don't read if you don't care. We ate the pizza, took showers, then went over to the girl's place for some pre-gaming before we caught a bus to the other side of the city to this nightclub called ...

... of us had seen David before, so we crossed the river and went up. There is a fake David and a different view of Florence, so we snapped away. By the time we were down, it as dark, so we crossed back over using Ponte Vecchio. Around the corner was Santa Croce with a dodgy christmas market. It was pretty ******, but on the carousel were some of Zonth's friends, so we joined them in drinking Gluhwein. After a few, we found a trattoria and had dinner. Prosecco, red wine, food ...

... police are everywhere, as these are priceless works, and we learned that recently some crazy stormed one of the fountains and broke an arm from the sculpture. How sad, but as our guide said, one person out of nine million visitors a year has to be expected. Oh I almost forgot the local "Chinese jade" tour. If you don't know what I mean you need to read Jose and Andrea's Beijing blogs. This one was at a leather works, so we could learn to ...

... car negotiating some serious hill climbs on tiny windy roads, flanked by crazy Italian drivers, lycra on bikes and specially adapted high altitude mountain goats. Fortunately I seemed to be able to find the gearstick 9 out of 10 times by now. The mandatory trip to Pisa to try hold up the tower in a photo (I refused to take one) and alas but back on the road again...

... than other places we have been! The next day is pretty much taken up with strolling along the River and seeing the Uffizi museum. We also visited the touristy street market, which sells marbled paper, inscribed leather notebooks, leather wallets, fake bags and leather jackets. So much leather in this city! I was nearly tempted to buy a leather jacket, but decided against it. The Duomo is amazing...one of the most amazing structures I have seen thus far ...