Catching up 10-7-2011 (Florence/Firenze)

Sunday-Monday

Good plane trip. Carter and Ammon slept well. Good nap at
the Hotel Raffaelo in Rome. It is near the Train Station Termini (McDonald’s
food, gelatos, all sorts of souvenirs).

Tuesday

The Roman Forum. We got to see a “discovery” from 2009. It
appears that the Emperor Nero may have had a rotating dining room. It sits up
on the Palatine Hill. They are excavating and studying quite slowly. The Roman
tour guide, Vivian, we had in October 2010 was not there, but her excavation
site is. Her dig is right across from the Temple of Romulus. After Nana,
Carter, and Ammon returned to the hotel for lunch and rest, Sean and I made a
trip back to the Colloseum. This time we were able to take our time and enjoy
the site. It was interesting “stealing” some tour guide information from the
other English speaking tours. Dinner at the Hard Rock Rome.

Wednesday

Up fairly early for the Vatican. Guess what? We missed
seeing the Pope by 15 minutes. He spoke at St. Peter’s Square at 10:30 a.m. ;
however, we headed to the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel at 10:15. The Sistine
Chapel was magnificent! If it wasn’t for the crowd, I could have stayed in
there for hours. For years, I thought Michelangelo’s “Final Judgment” was in
another “chapel” but it is right there (many of you already know that…LOL) on
the wall under the ceiling! Dinner was at an Italian restaurant around the
corner from the hotel. I had lasagna, but I can make better lasagna that they.
I think our American taste buds have a “mind of their own”. I have been in
Italy several times and eaten quite a few Italian meals, and I still think our
Italian food in the U.S. is just as good if not better than here.

Thursday

Eurostar Italia to Firenze (Florence). We are staying near
the Piazza de la Repubblica, and it has a carousel. Because we did not see it
last October, we put our bags down and headed straight to the Arno River with
the Ponte Vecchio. It was so cool! I could just imagine ol’ Dante Alighieri running
over and over the bridge trying to catch a glimpse of his Beatrice….so close
and yet so unobtainable. As we headed back into Firenze, we stopped for some
delicious gelati (strawberry, hazelnut, pistachio…yum, yum, yum!). We strolled
around the Brunelleschi’s Dome and Giotto’s Bell Tower and listened to an accordion
player. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Florence then Carter and Ammon rode on
the carousel at the Piazza de la Repubblica.

Friday

After breakfast, we went straight to San Lorenzo’s chapel
(Medici Chapel). It took me 25 years to see Michelngelo’s “Day, Night, Dawn
& Dusk”, but I finally saw them! Woo hoo! Around noon, Carter, Ammon, Sean,
and I went to the Mc Donald’s at the train station. It was a great stroll. This
afternoon we have tickets to go to the Galleria dell’ Accademia to see “David”.

“Night & Day”

“Dawn & Dusk”