Leon Bianco San Gimignano

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 ...

... through that particular medium. In addition to sculpture, the City's architecture also reached back to try and capture the spirit and skill of the ancients. The Duomo was the first dome of its kind built in 1000 years, and Brunellechi studied Rome's Pantheon in preparation for his crowning achievement. <br><br>In addition to providing us with a great tour of the Uffizi, Rick Steves also put together a fantastic walking tour of the ...

... 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 ...

... br><br>Michael and I have found ourselves lost in time - the 1500's to be more precise. It's as if nothing mattered before or after that. San Gimignano is the "Little Manhattan" of Italy with about 14 of it's 60 medieval towers surviving. Florence took over the town when the plague killed off most of it's people and the towers managed to survive when the need to battle no longer existed. The girls sat on the steps below as Michael and I ...

... spent about eleven hours at the Red Garter!!!! We had been in town (which is a 30-35 minute walk from our apartment) and didn't feel like walking back before the football games started at 9:30pm here, so we just chilled out there for a few hours beforehand. Our buddy Francesco let us have our table by the TV the entire time we were there, which was awesome! By the time the Packer game started we were joined by the guy that Francesco told us was from Oshkosh and ...

... of this world - very lite in color yet strong nose and very complex taste. The meal and wine were absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! (Smig) That dinner was amazing, we had so much food that we had enough left over for a really kick ass lunch the next day. Will we ever top this day?? Not sure, but we will give it a try. BTW - a dynamic navigation system in Europe is one of the best things i ever spent my money on in a rental car. Sooo worth it.

... the appetizers they serve everyone (free of charge) are incredible and plentiful (like peeled figs), and the champagne they serve everyone as they sit down is a very nice way to begin indeed. July 22 - The next day was a little lazier. The only thing really on the agenda was to go see Michealangelo's "David", the 17 foot tall masterpiece statue that originally was comissioned to sit 300 feet up in a nook on the side of the Duomo (church) it was judged too ...

I cannot put my finger on why, but Florence was my favorite Italian city last time I backpacked Europe and it has continued to be. There is just something about it, to me, which just encompasses Italian culture completely without being overshadowed by the massive tourism Italy tends to attract. Michelangelo's David is absolutely impressive. A must see for anyone traveling to Florence. Ciao Ciao!