roma

Hopped on the train and went to Rome for the day. It's less than 2 hours. We were only there for the day, but we managed to go to the Pantheon, the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. The first set of pics below is all from Vatican City. The pics include views of St. Peter's from the square, the inside of the church, climbing Michelangelo's dome (action shot of the guy in front of me to show the curved walls), and views of the square from the top of the dome. Next set of pics are of Trevi Fountain, and the last set is of the Spanish Steps. Ah, a long day with a ton of walking and we still need to come back to see the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel. We should be able to see those when we come back to meet Jeff and Kerry.

baby guinness

Half shot of Tia Maria (coffee liqueur) and half shot of Baileys.

piazzale michelangelo

Ventured across the Arno and up the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Great views of the entire city from up here and a life-size replica of the David as well. Check out the pics (with Kipp per request)!

duomo of santa maria del fiore

So, we walk past this magnificent place every day. Our apartment is just down the street from it as well making it the perfect landmark for finding our way home. We've climbed the 414 step tower (campanile) and checked out the museum. Here are some pics.

hanging out in florence

We don't really have internet access at the apartment. There is a hotel upstairs with wireless, but the signal isn't strong enough for us to get in our place. We may go upstairs for the signal and then pay for access (by the minute/hour). We've also found a little cafe with free wi-fi (where I'm posting this). Kipp can post to his blog by sending email from his Blackberry, so you should see more frequent posts by him. For me, expect to see posts in bursts as I write them offline and then post them all at once when I can.

We haven't done any real sight seeing here yet. It's been nice just taking it easy the last couple of days. We found a market near the apartment where we can get groceries and other household stuff. Kipp's cooked a few (excellent) meals at the apartment. We've watched an Arsenal match (link) on TV at the pub, grabbed sandwiches from one of the local shops, and had our espresso/cappuccino and pastries in the morning. Today it is raining, so no plans to go out. I'm catching up on my blogging and downloading pictures from camera to post. Ah, a nice relaxing sabbatical.

our first night in florence

It's kind of easy to get lost because of the ways the streets turn and run into another. But the area isn't all that big; knowing the general area of our apartment and wandering long enough is good enough to get us back home. We walked down several of the nearby streets around our apartment looking for a place to eat. I'm not sure what exactly we were looking for. All the restaurants we passed looked the same to me. Anyway, we finally stopped at one and got a table on the street. Our waiter was excellent. He was very nice and became easily distracted by pretty women walking along the street (ah, the women... that topic deserves it's own lengthy post which I will make someday). It was highly entertaining. The food was excellent as well. I had tortellini with bolognese and then roast chicken with potatoes. I followed it up with a fruit salad and espresso. Our waiter also brought us a shot of Limencello (link) during dessert and then another when we asked for the bill. "It's free!" he said.

After dinner we made our way to the Irish pub. Brenna had told us there was one very close to our apartment and we found it earlier in the day when out exploring. The place is great. It's a nice safe haven. While everyone in Florence speaks English, I still feel a little guilty about using it or intimidated to try Italian in most places. In the pub, however, English is the way to go. The bartenders and customers mostly appear to be English or Irish. It's a nice, comfortable place. :)

We had a couple pints at the pub and chatted with a few other patrons. One was a nice retired English cop. Then, not long before the place closed (around 2 am) we started talking to a group of young Irish peeps (probably mid to late 20s). One of the guys had just gotten married that day and was out drinking with several of his friends. Anyway, as the pub was closing, they ended up inviting us to share a taxi to some after hours bar that one of the guys new. We were having fun, and decided to go along. The new bar was pretty strange, but still had a great time with our new found friends. I think Kipp has more details on the rest of the evening on his page. I guess the only thing I'll add is that the Irish love hip hop, South Park, Family Guy (giggity giggity), and WWC.

firenze

We took the train from Pisa to Florence and found our apartment just in time to meet our contact to give us the keys and show us around. The apartment is very nice. First floor has a small kitchen, living area, a bedroom, and two full bathrooms. Upstairs is a loft area with a full bathroom, and three "bedrooms." There are three beds in separate areas, but there aren't actually any doors between the rooms. One of these days I'll take some pictures and show what the place looks like. Anyway, there is plenty of room and beds for any visitors that wish to come visit (hint, hint)!