Il Pino San Gimignano

... tea, she had a tray of ceramic tea pots sitting out at her table with cream and honey and lumps of sugar. There was also some cookies and a plate of brownies she had baked. These she cooked with olive oil instead of vegetable oil because she ran out so we warned us that they might be slightly salty. But they were still very good.

She even lent us some books from her collection that ...

... He promised we'd return to the old Etruscan town of Montepulciano later this week.
The roads narrowed and became windier as we drove away from the hill town. One road sent us through a wonderland of colors as luscious red, orange and yellow trees sandwiched us. I could've swallowed a fly with my mouth gaping so wide. Even though Vilmo passed this scenery everyday, he didn't seem disillusioned by it all. He was very proud of his Tuscan region ...

... caught the bus back to Florence – and on the way, viewed more gorgeous countryside and witnessed an incredible sunset over those rolling Tuscan fields. (After the sun went down and the “show” was over, I fell asleep for the rest of the ride. Hah.) Since we had such a big lunch, neither of us felt like going out for dinner, so we rested in our hotel room tonight, read, and booked our hotel room for Venice starting tomorrow. Onward we go!

nous sommes rester a florence pour terminer notre visite la ville en allant aux jardins boboli et bardini, situe dans la cours du palais pitti. Deux grand jardins qui a cette date n'ont plus autant a offrir qu'en ete. il n'y a plus de fleur, et la moitie des arbres n;ont plus de feuille, mais on a pu constater l'ampleur de la propriete en passant tout l'apres midi a ...

Cinque Terre photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=163678&id=613699523&l=b ae7645b89

Stayed at Affittacamere Patrizia Hostel in Rio Maggiore in Cinque Terre and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
When we got to the Hostel it was just an office and no one was there. Our keys were stuck to the door with instructions on how to get to our dorm room. There was another set of keys there too so we could have taken those too and ...

... was completely packed with tourists, and we were on our way out. Great timing! We walked across the street and entered the Roman Forum. Lots of ruins! We listened to YET ANOTHER Rick Steves audio podcast/tour and were informed about the history of the forum. It was a beautiful, quiet morning. The forum was covered in flowers, making it extremely beautiful and peaceful. We had a picnic lunch, shopping, and went back to the hotel for our siesta. Along the way, we came across ...

... some great tasting chocolate! :) Today, Amy and I went running for awhile and then spent the afternoon in town at a flea market with alot of antiques and explore another side of town we hadn't been to yet. Another week of classes is about to start, but Friday we won't have class because there is a day trip with school to Sienna and San Gimignano! I'm so glad that I get to keep in touch with everyone! I hope you are all doing well!! Ciao!

... the officer where we could get the application he told us we needed to go to the immigration office, not in that building, at 8:00 the next day. The next day we spent 2 hours in line/waiting for our number to be called and got the application. We did not have all the information/documents we needed to fill it out at the office, so we quickly went back to the apartment we were renting and grabbed what we needed. When we returned to turn in ...

... air and we got on the road. It wasn't too long of a ride and I got to see what the Autostrada is like. About 45 minutes later, we pulled into Poggibonsi and a few people got off (the rest headed on to Siena). Two of those that got off with me were a middle-age couple from Brisbane, Australia. We passed the 40-minute wait for the bus to San Gimignano talking about traveling. They have traveled quite a bit in the past and are currently on a 3 month stint now ...

... we are. I haven't seen that many over-weight people here. I mean, I see them every now and then, but I think to myself, "Are they Americans?" Bad I know! You know what else I hardly ever see here...black people. The only ones I see are those crazy really black guys from Africa selling fake purses and sunglasses in the tourist part of town. It's weird but I can spot an American out of the crowd easily. At first I couldn't. There are lots of European tourists here as well. I'm sure we all ...