Firenze
We spent the day doing not much of anything, which was great considering that we did Rome in a day the day before. We had a delightful day wondering the streets near the Vatican and then the evening in Piazza Navona, a central hangout with fountains and lots of cafe-type restaurants. Throughout the day we visited with people and loved talking to locals and tourists alike.
While at the Pantheon, we chatted with some college kids studying in Wales that were from the University of Wyoming. They were very nice and we exchanged backpacking tips on where to stay and how to avoid the trains in Greece. Later, in the Piazza Navona while Ben was insisting that we BOTH be in the picture a woman offered to take the picture for us, she was from Kehei and her daughter lived in Logan, Utah. She and her 23 year old daughter (both members of the church) and her elderly mother were touring Italy for two weeks. They were very nice and we talked about the common cities we lived in, the daughter was born while they lived in Kings Beach!
Ben was excited about searching for an antique Italian map (reproduction) and so we hunted around a bit and met a sweet Jewish-Italian man in a book/map store. He spoke excellent english as his second job was as a school teacher. A man from Sicily came into the store later, he was a lawyer in Sicily, and was fluent in French, so I was the only one in the store that couldn't join in the fun of speaking another language, although my ability to understand French is increasing.
We met a man that had a shoe tent on the street that was a hoot! literally, he was about 25, black leather pants and talked of his pending trip to LA where BayWatch is filmed so he could check out the well-endowed woman. He thought Ben was crazy for marrying so young, since, as he says, "woman change!"
Ben's goatee is coming very nicely. He is very proud of it! Makes him feel like a REAL MAN...aghhh,aghhhh,aghhhhh.
We have noticed that if there is a sterotype of an Italian, this would be it: Women are decked out in fashionably tight, short clothes, Men in blue dress shirts, both carrying a cell phone in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and a leash with a little yappy dog at the end of it. Everyone smokes! There are yappy dogs everywhere--no tough golden retrievers here--only one we saw was in Florence and they were Americans living in Germany here on holidays with Sierra, their golden.
The first few days in Italy I thought I was in trouble every time someone spoke to me--they all talk so loudly and it seems like they are seriously ticked off when only they are greeting you or asking a question.
We are staying a fabulous pensione in Florence tonight. It is huge and beautiful compared to what we've seen along the way. We have our own room, which is nice for a change. The dorm last night was fine, cheap and clean--the way we like it! We awoke early to get a train to Florence. It was very nice train, first class had "in-flight" food service!!! The Tuscany region is beautiful, a summer villa here someday would be incredibly. Florence is only 2 hours from Rome so the region is well situated but peaceful and serene like the rolling hills of the California wine country.
Florence is a lovely city. David is INCREDIBLE! Wow, they don't build men like that anymore...with the exception of my David-esque husband! Pictures hardly do this Michealango masterpiece justice. And the "prisioners" (those sculptures that are only partially complete-intentionally so) are magnificent. We were a little overwhelmed at all the tourists in Florence. It is a nice city but crowded.
We climbed all 435 stairs to the top of the Duomo! So much for a leisure day. Whoa, what a view! It is incredible to see the Renaissance creations from on-high.
We spent some time tonight planning our itinerary from here on. It looks something like this: Saturday--Pisa, Cinque Terre, back to Florence; Sunday--Venice; Monday--afternoon train to Salzburg, Austria; Tuesday--night train to Frankfurt; Wednesday-- Frankfurt Temple and sights; Thursday--morning train to Cologne (Koln) and then evening to Charleroi (Belgium) and Friday, Saturday, Sunday with the family in Belgium; Monday--morning train to Paris to fly to NYC.
Thanks for writing everyone--it is great to know that you all are out there!!
Kim and Ben
T
More from KimnBensEuropetrip2000 here