Hotel Cioci 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 ...

... was buzzing with a variety of languages and the overall atmosphere was jubilant and festive. Despite challenges with the "menu", it was a great way to end our visit to Italy. <br><br>We'll retrace our steps through Rome tomorrow and will wind up in London for the night before catching our flight back to San Francisco on Sunday. It was quite fitting to end our journey in Florence, where so much of our current culture emerged centuries ago. <br>

... I've seen images of it but I guess they faded from my memory because the inside is quite ornate. The dome alone is breath taking. Mass is still held at the Pantheon &amp; couples even get married here. I cannot imagine this location! :) <br><br>From the Pantheon, at about 11AM, we went to a gelato shop Chris M recommended. Mmmm, mmmm good. It was brisk outside and we had just had breakfast and we loved it even more. While enjoying these ...

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!

... something crazy like 1.5 Euro per pair of socks). Then, I stopped by an internet café to update my blogging and check up on my e-mail. Turns out my new fangled computer with its Windows Vista was not compatible with the services offered, so I had to use the computers that they had there. It would have been fine, but I didn't have my thumb drive to transfer all my blogs of the past week, so I was up the creek with that. I'll get it next time, sorry ...

... sort of rush through my cappuccino and plain croissant in order to make it to class. Today in abnormal psych, we discussed psychopathology, the different types of studies (case, correlational, experimental, etc.) it included, and a brief history of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Still pretty much entry level stuff, but tomorrow or Wednesday we are having a guest speaker who should make things interesting. I believe it is a staff member at a more in-depth/hands-on school of ...

... and asked her what we were saying (we tried to speak as much Italian as we could with her, but that didn't make for very interesting conversation), and ran around and turned on Christmas music, and came out wearing a light up Santa hat. When it was time for us to go he was sad and asked his mom why we couldn't stay for dinner. Tomorrow is my last final. The semester went by quickly, just like everyone told me it would, and I didn't believe. But then when I ...

... miles and miles, all the green rolling hills down to the red roofs of the città. The walk up was a little tiring, especially since we'd been on our feet all day, but the view at sunset was worth it. We had a picnic dinner up there, hung out for a little bit, and then went and got gelato. Last night I was exhausted and felt very allergy-y so I went to bed and crashed. This morning I felt tons better. Yay for sleep! We

... plus. So I walked past many churches, and then to the Duomo. The famous Duomo of Florence. Unfortunately I never went inside, which I may regret sometime in the future, but nor really that bothered about it right now. There is so much to do that you'll never enjoy your time anywhere if all you do is regret the things you missed out on rather than the things you did get to see. After the Duomo, the plan was to see the Ponte Vecchio and then up to Piazzele Michaelangelo for a view of the entire ...