Hotel Ercolini & Savi Montecatini Terme

On our way north, from Rome, towards the Italian Riviera we made just a slight detour to Pisa to see the famous Torre Pendente (leaning tower). We're here to tell you, it is in fact leaning and we weren't interested in climbing to the top to see if we could get it to lean any more (and trust us, with the amount of pasta, vino, formaggio, etc. combined with the large amounts of tourists at the top of this structure... you never know). But ...

... 8230; and couldn’t find a park… jagged a disabled spot and thought we could always rip mick’s leg off if we got questioned.. Made a dash about 500metres up the road to see the leaning tower… it really is leaning!!… then quickly back to ensure the car was not towed away… back on the road heading north to Porotvenere..

... Pistoria.. Tried to find a shop open to buy beer (not stubbies) as cans are huge…and tissues for runny nose etc… seemed like an easy task but it is a very old town.. Very narrow streets.. A Sunday and nothing open… but we did see a bit of the town… some bits more than once as we went round and round and round… anyway found that there was a shop open in next town Monsummano… got supplies and then tried to find the B& ...

... I had been told that the end of the hike was the best part, finishing with a beach that is more than welcome after a tough hike in the sun. We didn’t finish the hike until almost 7 and it had rained a little… not exactly encouraging us to jump in the water. So instead we got a bottle of wine and watched the thunderstorm that was brewing offshore. I even got a couple lightning photos because I’m that ...

... too, and it really contributed to the experience. We also toured the Pitti Palace and stumbled upon some famous art we didn't even know was there. Among the cheap wine and free food, we learnt cool facts about this medieval place and the ruling of the Medici family. Also, (we didn't go into any) but Florence most likey has the best shoe shopping in the world. And a shoe museum. Just saying......Italy was off to a sweet start.

Now.. your Rome update!

Jus and Mur

... for parking, to ask about any mail that might have come for me (sorry, Celia, no dice), and to use the internet. I read through my e-mails, checked on my Cubs, and booked a hostel for two days in Venice for my cousin and I. I showed my mom a little bit of the school, then we headed back to my dad who had luckily found a spot to park for a minute on the street the school is on, via Pandalfini. We parked the car on the Arno, paid for a few hours with the machine, and headed to lunch ...

... this beautiful city for six hours or so. Tough life. I wonder if they've got Monster over here. Then there's the whole deal with the room-mates. Other than Tai, I have no idea who these people are except that I will be very close to them over the next six weeks. I hope we friggin get along, but if we don't, it'll encourage me to spend as little time in the apartment as possible. Win win. Met this girl who is finishing up her college career at Purdue by doing this trip. Then she ...

... the same to me since most of the paintings depicted the same subject. I left Florence still pondering what precipitated Renaissance here. The city itself is nothing out of ordinary but then again, maybe the artists saw something I couldn't see. Perhaps it was different back then. Nevertheless, Florence is the birth place of Renaissance and it deserves much credit for creating such fascinating period. Other than the ...

... however got a nice new leather jacket out of it, so not too many complaints from me. I ended up haggling nearly every shop/stall owner we came across and got some real good bargains for myself and for Mum. The price on some items is ridiculous and is obviously only there to sting an unassuming Japanese Tourist, so i cut them right back starting off with really low bids and making as if i was going to leave all the time. It is ...

... all sitting on the chair around me. I felt like that old lady with lots of cats, only with sparrows. They must have been really hungry because as I held out some bread in my hand, a few of them almost ate it. They never got closer than a few inches though. I threw a handful of crumbs onto the ground and it was like a feeding frenzy of fericious sparrows. An old man who had entered the cafe was standing at the door beside me watching. He said something in Italian, but ...