Italy

When we arrived we checked out the map that we got by email to get to the apartment we had rented. It looked simple enough, and we are metro veterans by now, so instead of a cab we took the metro to its last stop and started walking. After walking too far I started asking people for the street we were looking for, each one told us, "Next street." They kept pointing ahead in the direction we had been walking for too long. I finally gave up and called the number the very nice lady had given me and she was shocked we had missed the street, "Do you have the map?!" She took pity on us and sent her husband in his very tiny car to rescue us. It turns out the street we were looking for was more like an alley, the only sign was small, faded, and attached to a building facing the wrong way to be seen from the street we were walking on. I really should have expected that by now!
Our first night, we woke up at 3:00 AM to the most spectacular thunder and lightning ever! We sat out on our little deck for a while and watched. The rain cooled things off a little and our sightseeing at the Colosseum was very pleasant. For the first time I wasn't completely drenched in sweat by the end of the day.
And here's an observation on Italy...as I dodge the two-million kamikaze scooters ridden by the young and fashionable I think of their parents. How does and Italian parent allow their teenager to take off on one of those ridiculously fast, utterly unsafe, suicidal scooters in the most disorganized and chaotic traffic for the first time??? And, yes, I realize that this particular viewpoint on the subject of Italian scooter riding identifies me as OLD.

Baylie immediately declared the Colosseum her favorite sightseeing so far. She kept getting excited when she knew something about it from her Social Studies class last year (are you reading this Michelle Edgmon?!) She said, "We learned about this, and it's actually REAL!" The Roman Forum was also very cool and we had an outstanding tour guide for Palatine Hill. More tomorrow...

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Today we went to the Pitti Palace. Very impressive collections, ceilings (they have a thing for ceilings here, of course), and we especially enjoyed the HUGE gardens around the palace. We were there for hours. Afterwards we had lunch in a nice little sidewalk restaurant in an alley away from the crowds, complete with an accordian player. Tomorrow we leave for Rome and my head is already spinning with the number of sights that are on the "must-do" list!

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Today we took a city bus to the end of its line on the edge of Florence. Realized that there wasn't any way to walk out of town easily from there, so we got back on the bus and rode it to its other extreme end of the line. We got off and headed for the foothills covered in olive trees, grape vineyards, and oak trees. We hiked mostly on a road but eventually veered off on a path through the trees. We climbed up high enough to look back on Florence. Baylie's comment: "Now that looks like Italy!" It was definitely a nice day, but it illustrated one of the many differences between me and Shawn (and oh aren't there many?). I like maps, street signs, landmarks, destinations, and clear routes. Given the choice I will ALWAYS retrace my steps back the way I came because I KNOW that will get me back. Given the choice Shawn will ALWAYS want to go back along a different path than the one he walked first. He doesn't care about a clearly marked route; just traveling in the right general direction is good enough for him. And he's always traveling basically the right way...his sense of direction is uncanny, and a little annoying. I want to see our location pinpointed on a map, he's fine just noticing that sun is basically in the right spot. Anyway, we made it back after wandering in the hills of Tuscany!

Arrived in Florence today. I really like it, walkable streets, beautiful duomo church, Michelangelo's "David", maybe the best food so far, and the countryside of Tuscany in every direction...pretty great. Shawn and Baylie climbed up the 436 stairs to the top of the dome. Apparently the view was the most amazing thing ever, but I just couldn't quite tackle those stairs. Maybe tomorrow, and I'll make Baylie do it again with me! We're staying at a hostel, Shawn's going to have to tough it out with no air conditioning!

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