Monday and Tuesday
Oh, now I know what the fuss is all about! Tuscany is amazingly beautiful! Life is slow and laid-back, people are friendly and the food is soooo good! Even though we cook at home, our meals can't help but be delicious - our ingredients are authentic!

We have an apartment in the pink house

Makes me wonder why we keep heading into the cities....

Pizza at Il Campo

So Monday we went to Siena. Here, we were mostly just checking out the scene. The main square is called Il Campo - home of the famous Palio horse race - and said to be the best town square in all of Italy. We munched on delicious pizza and watched the other tourists and locals, before heading to check out the art in Siena's Duomo. The green and white striped church sits atop Siena's highest point and can be seen for miles around. We are getting our fill of stained glass and in-laid marble floors! This church contains a Michelangleo statue, Pisano's Carrara marble pulpit, Duccio's rose window, the Piccolomini altar, Bernini sculptures and a treat: the Piccolomini Library, decorated with captivating frescos and intricately decorated, illuminated music scores. (we found out that Aeneas Piccolomini, a Siena native, later became Pope Pius II).

Duomo in Siena

Altar

Duomo interior

Detail of The Fountain of Joy at Il Campo in Siena - this was supposedly the inspiration for that famous scene at the Sistine Chapel!

Fountatin of Joy

Oh, and we also got desparetely lost trying to find out car. You did want the whole story, right? Each sightseeing day begins with the search for parking, then ends with trying to retrace our steps to find the car. By the grace of God, we have managed to relocate it each day, but honestly, if it weren't for the kindness of strangers, we would still be wandering aimlessly in some distant Italian city!
We visited Florence on Tuesday. We were blessed to stumble upon the Leonardo Museum. Here about 30 of Leonardo's inventions and experiments have been recreated for visitors to touch and play with! The kids had a great time - but I will stop there - Elijah will tell you more later.
We waited in line for a hour to get into the Accademia Museum to see Michelangelo's David and Prisoners along with a few others. After our daily gelato (Florence was the birthplace of our favorite afternoon snack!) we began searching for the "Paperback Exchange". We were all in need of new literature and were excited to hear about an all English bookstore that gives discounts on used books and sells them too! I think that would be the perfect job - to own an English bookstore in a beautiful Italian city!

Where is a fig leaf when you need one?

Duomo in Florence

New Books!

One of the "Prisioners"

We had an extra challenge this day to get back to the car: we had taken a bus into the city square and were now faced with the task of getting back! People are so kind! We had practically half the bus helping us to get back to the "Stadio" where we had parked! I have my helpless and confused look perfected, I guess!
Today is Wednesday, and we are having what we call a down day. We spent the morning sleeping and at the lavarendia. Then to the market for the day's food and home to relax. It is a beautiful, warm day, and we are enjoying laying in the sun and reading our latest novels! We are thinking of heading to Italian Riveria tomorrow, if we can put together a fun day. There are several small towns nearby that we might visit on Friday, then onto Milan and an afternoon flight to Paris on Saturday! We will be spending our last week in Normandy, France. Stay tuned!