Metropole Montecatini Terme

... and we stayed until we were ready to retire for the evening.<br><br>Sat 14 Nov<br>Next day we had a sleep-in and then went for a run around the 4km city walls. Twice around was enough for Kim and I managed a 3rd. After a shower we were back in town for more meandering and I had one of the best Cupuccio's (Capuccino) ever!! We found a few hours during siesta to catch up with the ...

... to the table. We strolled to our seats, which were at a table for four with two others who had arrived earlier (part of the Il Latini culture), and gazed above at the endless swine rumps hanging from the ceiling. The table had a huge bottle of half full red wine and the first course was nothing but pork in various forms. Needless to say, this wasn't the best culinary choice for Kate's taste, and she did her best. She asked for no ...

... For almost a year, Chris and I have been referencing our Tuscan dinner whenever we have some extra spare change to tuck away: this is for our Tuscan dinner! Well, tonight was the night and it was soooo worth the wait. It's truffle season in Tuscany and there are few things we love more than truffles. Three hours later, we closed the place after an amazing five course meal near a roaring fire. It was yet another "pinch me" moment.<br><br>:)<br><br><br>

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!

... train to the 3rd town, Corniglia (we read that the walk between town 2 and 3 wasn't really worth it). The 1st train ticket was good for 6 hours. From Corniglia we walked back to our town. The 90 minute hike was also quite beautiful but nowhere near as simple as the first stretch. First you take this super mega flight of stairs that winds back and forth along a cliff (a really dumbed down version of the stairway to Heaven in Hawaii). 300 ...

... studying at CAPA (he hadn't heard of the school, but it's purely a study abroad program, so I didn't really think that was a big deal), what was good to do around the city, and how to tell if an espresso was good or not. He showed me this trick regarding the espresso with some sugar, and told me that you could pretty much judge how good the espresso was by how quickly the sugar seeped through the top foam layer that Italian ...

... Lucca, Livorno, Grosseto, Massa Carrara. In addition to art, Tuscany offers outstanding natural settings, such as the National Park of the Argentario and the Isola d' Elba. In the countryside, among the vineyards and olive groves, are wonderful villages and castles, a reminder of Tuscan life in the ...

SO, here we are in Italy! BONJOURNO PRINCIPESSA!!! thats all i know for the time being. sad isnt it? But yes, the train ride here was absolutely the longest train ever, but we did get some very nice scenery. We stopped in Nice (so i can now say ive been to nice. we actually ate breakfast there...) and then went onward to Milan, but we didnt get to look around Milano at all. BUT, we did get to see the french riviera on our train ride ...

Florence is a beautiful hilly city made predominantly of marble, in hues of white, green and pink. Known for its art and of course also as the home of famous artists, the most well know being Michelangelo. Again we stayed at a campsite that required public transport to reach the city centre something we have actually got reasonably skilled about for people who hardly ever used public transport before ...