Firenze

A quick train ride and we arrived in Florence at about 5:45 pm. We checked in at Hotel Sampaoli and got recommendations for dinner - ZaZa, which turned out to be delicious. After dinner, we stopped off for ice cream & then returned to the hotel.

In the morning, we grabbed breakfast pastries & cappuccinos at Cafe Nabucco nearby (great cappuccino!) We explored the city center on foot for a while...going to the main market and seeing some of the old churches.

For dinner, we tried out Osteria dell Angolo...the food was pretty good, and we dined outside which was perfect.

On Wednesday morning, we switched hotels over to Hotel Bigello. We also checked out the museum that houses the Statue of David.

There was also a creative interpretation of the Statue of David at the museum...

For lunch, we had a recommendation to check out Trattoria Mario, which turned out to be a wonderful locals-type cafe.  We then visited Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) which is lined with many shops (especially jewelers)

Mother's Day is nearing, so David signed us all up for a Cooking Class as a gift to Pat. The class covered 4 courses and took a few hours but was so much fun. We made a warm caprese salad, homemade pasta with red sauce, sautéed turkey bites with fresh vegetables, and tiramasu. Each course was delicious and we had a blast cooking together in the kitchen and with our chef.  Check out the video below!

On Thursday, Dave & Jen climbed to the top of the Duomo (Florence's cathedral with observation deck). The climb up is 463 steps, through old stone access passages, and is totally worth it! Also, more interesting info about the cathedral & the dome here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral 

Lunch was at Salumeria Verde. They had the best sandwiches we've ever had!

We had dinner with Pat & Stan at 4 Leoni across the river. They had outside seating (like most places we've eaten) so we enjoyed the evening air and the delicious food. We happened upon another wonderful ice cream parlor after dinner - seems like they are everywhere and all are equally delicious.

We parted with Pat & Stan after dinner, grabbed a bottle of wine and climbed up to Piazzale Michelangiolo to watch the sunset over Florence.

Dave's getting really good at capturing images using the Canon...here are 2 pics that Jen really likes, taken while in Florence:

Now off to Bologna, but first a quick day trip to Lucca...

Roma

For this trip, we decided to meet at our destination, instead of having David fly back to New Orleans first. David arrived from Australia on Friday afternoon without any issue. He was on Emirates and had rave reviews of the dusty view of the Burj and the A380 on-board bar.

Jen's connection through Chicago was delayed 5 hours due to weather (i.e. hail hitting the plane as we were waiting to taxi out to the runway), but in the end she made other connecting flights & was only 4 hours delayed to Rome.

From the Rome airport, we took a train to the city center (about 45 minutes ride) and walked a few blocks to our accommodations at Hotel Saturnia. It was a quaint room with shared bathroom; the street was a bit noisy, but the location was ideal for seeing the historic sights.

After settling in, we walked over for a delicious dinner at Gallina Bianca where we shared a fresh mozzarella appetizer & then ordered pizzas

In the morning, we set off on foot to see the sights...Palazzo dell Esposizioni, a small hilltop park overlooking Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, Colonna di Traiano, Trajan's Column, etc...all amazing!

We checked out the market and a few stores...David was particularly excited about the wide availability and large container sizes for Nutella

The pasta styles & colors were fantastical...

Lots of tourists around Rome, many cruised around on these open-top buses.

We stopped for lunch at Obika Mozzarella Bar (yes, an entire restaurant dedicated to different varieties of Mozzarella!) Jennifer was in heaven

Here are a few pictures of Jen on her cheese-high

We also visited some roof-top bars near the Pantheon.

David's parents were arriving around dinner-time, so we started heading back towards the train station to meet them...on the way, we came across the Fontana di Trevi which was beautiful but packed full of people...and a man roasting chestnuts!

The next morning was a bit overcast & rainy but we made it out to the Colosseum in spite of the dreariness...

With the rain, we wrapped up our day a bit early...although, David & I did poke around the neighborhood for a bite to eat. We found a spot down the street that had a buffet of finger foods for a few euro, so we stopped in. The food was okay, the ambience was the most interesting...neon lights and house music going while we ate, very fun

On Monday morning, we packed up and left our bags with reception, then took the bus over to Vatican City for St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel...the place is so ornate & decorative with beautiful sculptures, architecture, and paintings that it was really hard to control our impulse to take hundreds of pictures...David went to work with the Canon & Jen used her iPhone plus photo apps to take shots. Here is a sampling of pics:

Before leaving the Vatican, Jen dropped a postcard to some of the family back-home (days later, she will learn that mail from Italy is notoriously slow & that her family can expect to receive the postcard in 1 - 3 months)...

After a quick pizza lunch near the vatican museum, we caught a train to Florence.