Piazza Della Signoria in Florence

Making lasagna that melts in your mouth. Must be the pound of butter and red wine!

Ok. So where have I been and where are my pictures? Last night I had planned to do an update of the last to days,complete with pictures. Unfortunately, the wireless hotspot is only available in the lobby and my vodafone connection is weak an keeps shutting off. Must be because my room is in the very old section of a Tuscan villa that was origninally a monastary. My room is an old monk’s quarters. I wonder how many lonely monk nights were spent in this room…. if only the walls could talk. The view outside my room is of the Tuscan hillside and as I write this there is deafeining silence. I hear nothing but the clock ticking. I have the window wide open and there is a gentle Tuscan breeze that is most welcome after the sweltering heat of yesterday.  Friday we spent in Cinque Terre trotting about the trails and hillsides betweeen the five towns that hang on the sea clifts on the Ligurian coastline. What a spectacular sight this was. There were many many steps up and down, to and fro the train that connect the towns to each other. Here is where I tasted anchovies as they should taste. Fresh from the sea, soaked in lemon and fresh as springtime. Not at all like the nasty anchovies that live on pizza back home. I also had some wonderful strawberry gelato scooped up for me by this italian man that looked like he should have been donning the pagesof GQ. I told him in my limited Italian that I was hot today. He said. “Me too” with a great big smile. Later when we were on the bus, a friend and I were talking about the ice cream man and another tour companion mentioned she had seen him too. I think all the Amerian women who come to Vernazza must already know about Gelato man.

On Saturday we did a walking tour of Florence. I stood in the main square and tears came to my eyes as I saw history unfolding in front of me. So many amazing things packed into Florence, hard to comprehend. I’ll write more on this tomorrow and share photos. Buono notte.

So I’ve now been flying over 10 hours and I have to say its really not been that bad thanks to my trusty iPad. I have spent many hours watching “The Good Wife”, a television series I hadn’t watched before. I don’t watch much television so these kinds of trips give me an opportunity to catch up. Last time I went to Europe I watched multiple episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. While waiting to board the plane at LAX, I met a young Italian woman from Venice, going home to visit her mother and grandmother. Interestingly she is attending Occidental College in Eagle Rock. This is the same college my grandmother attended. Time does stand still sometimes. Especially on airplanes.

Excited? Over the moon!!!