Hotel Astoria 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 ...

... we finished it just in time to take in the Florentine Hall of Fame in the square outside the Uffizi. There are sculptures of all the heavy hitters from the Renaissance including Macchiavelli, Dante, Galileo, Donatello, Michelangelo and on, and on. It was like an outdoor walk through an intellectual Cooperstown. <br><br> We finished our walk at Ponte Vecchio, a beautiful bridge with its own incredible history (including being the only ...

... tons of cars were parked, everyone appreciating the amazing display of architecture in front of us. It was one of those great moments when a mix-up brings great reward.<br><br>The streets to our B&amp;B were tiny and flanked with high stone walls and the flow of traffic was about 20 kph above the limit and it truly felt like our mirror would click with the mirror on the cars we were passing. It was exhilarating. We continued our assent for ...

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!

... be spending the next week. I am definitely in the younger group here. I'd say, oh, maybe 10 of us are under 50. I actually expected less in my immediate age group so I was quite pleased with the ratio. Plus I don't mind being one of the young ones for a change :) For dinner we went to Montecatini Alto, which is where Old Town is, at the top of the mountain. We took a funiculare up, which is like a tram on the ground, then had dinner at ...

... we had penne with zucchini, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and ground beef in a tomato sauce. We made a deal as an apt. Jerry and I cook and Dru and Ti clean the kitchen. Ti and I finally got on the board in our trip long euchre extravaganza after back to back wins for team crouching Ti hidden Evan, the series is at 5-2. I'm going to work out with my limited equipment tonight. The girls stopped by from up the road so I guess I'll have to work out ...

... a sort of homeless shelter and halfway house where some students volunteer. Everyone was there, and it was a good way for everyone in the program to get together one last time before the semester students have to leave. Katie won an auction prize that was a special extra tour with our Art History professor, to the Medici Palace. Four others won it as well, and everyone got to bring a friend. It was especially fun to see the Palace at Christmas time, with ...

... is ridicuous. Harrods times ten. It's still not too hot here, which is so wonderful. It was pretty miserable the first two days when there was the heat wave. We had the best lunch today, I had ravioli with butter and basil and spinach. Mmm, the food makes me want to live here. I had great gelato last night, too, caramel pear. Sounds gross, but is fabulous. It's starting to feel like I've been gone a really long time, and I'm ...

... and singing 'Volare'. It was a great dinner and I would definitely recommend it. I think everyone that went loved it. We then headed into Florence to have some drinks. We couldn't go to Space Electronic because it was closed for refurbishment so we went to a Brazilian Club. It was huge and there were special dancers when we first arrived and then they opened up the dance floor. It was packed! You got ...