Florence is a heart...

If Rome is a clock and Venice is a fish then after one day in Florence, it can only be a heart. While only Rome will match Paris in its art and architecture, Florence offers all of the amoré of Paris. We have left our hotel and wandered the streets without a map. We stopped at a huge indoor market that is full of cheese, procutto hanging from the ceilings, pasta of every shape and variety imaginable, fresh fruits, dried fruits, candied fruits and nuts. We stocked up on fresh fruit and nuts and set out on the streets for some shopping. Florence is the leather capitol of the world no doubt. There is stall after stall of the finest leathers in any shape or variety imaginable. It was very hard not to spend the rest of our money and live like vagrants the remainder of the trip, although we did manage to put a big dent in our "gifts" lists and get a little something for ourselves. Today we do our laundry and continue to get a feel for the city. The people here are absolutely beautiful and charming. We can't walk more than five feet without engaging in a conversation with vendors. They are so interested in where we are from and just chat in general even when it is evident that we are not shopping for what they are selling. Its just all the charm a southern gal (and one southern transplant) can soak up in a day. As much as I adore the company of my dear friend Anne, I cannot get my darling Patrick out of my head today. He looks like many of the beautiful Italian men here and I can imagine coming back here with him to Florence. Florence is definately a heart for all of these reasons and more.

Anne and I are staying at the most precious hotel that was recommended to us by Suzanne who stayed her in 1966 when the great flood came. It is just as charming now as she felt it was then. The desk help is quick to rescue damsels. For us, they were happy to call and make reservations for us at some of the galleries and yesterday the same darling Carlo had to remove a bathroom door from its hinges as a young girl was trapped in there when the door handle came off. I am sure Carlo didn't mind at all and he is now the hotel hero. We did discover that you cannot simply set out for any location in Italy and just waltz up to museums and hope to get in. We got a reservation to the Accademia but we are just going to have to show up very early and hope to get in at the Uffizi which makes both of our stomachs hurt thinking that we might not get in. But I am sure if persistence is key, that we will somehow manage to weasel in. So any of you taking a journey to Italy, read the books well in advance and make note of museums you want to visit and book a month in advance to be safe.

Our feet seem to be back in good shape today and we are well rested. Our room is airconditioned and large by European standards and all the ammenities of an American hotel. A good nights rest last night was not hard to accomplish and we slept in until 11am.

We decided to take a tour, later in the week, of Chianti on bicycles. We could not imagine anything more charming once we saw this as an option. We knew we would take a side trip from Florence during our extended stay and we already know this will be perfect. Its all day. Shuttle out to Chianti, through Siena, then gear up on bikes and ride through the Tuscan countryside via vineyards and olive groves. We will stop at an old castle that is part of a vineyard, sample the various wines, have a lovely lunch as part of the deal then return in the afternoon. I am certain I will think of Patrick the entire day we are doing this because of his love of biking and beautiful scenery as I am sure Anne will think of Cliff and his love of being outdoors. Anyway, you can certainly understand why this seemed like an obvious good choice. We'll let you know after the trip.

The other discovery we have made is that there is a large area of working craftsman that can be observed making leather goods, marbled paper, metal trinkets, etchings, jewelry making, etc. We will definately go here and watch as these craftsman work as they have for centuries making some if Italy's hand crafts. What a great thing to bring back to our classrooms, in addition to all of the obvious high art we are seeing. (Lisa)