(sigh) Florence...

On this trip, I decided that Paris has nothing over Florence....except the Eiffel Tower of course. But besides that I love Florence as much....maybe more. I love it so much words don't properly explain....and that's the reason for the (sigh).

After a short bus ride (short ride on a bus, not a ride on a short bus) from Siena, we headed to the best B&B in the best location.....Luciano & Luciana (brother & sister)...

The view out our window in one direction: the market....

...and in the other direction we could see the Piazza Della Signoria where there are tons of these....

We headed to the Duomo first things and climbed the tower. I like to do that to get oriented. :)

We looooove graffiti....and 496 stairs!

Yesssss.....we all got the memo about blue day! (gorgeous Florence behind us)

And here it is....the unveiling of the ring that I bought in Siena. Calling it a ring doesn't begin to do it justice.....

Why did we take more pictures climbing up and down than we did of the view???

Damn these steps are small.....good thing I have Shiloh and Lisa in front of me to catch my fall!

So many pigeons....so little time....

I'm home!!!!

I like this restaurant...I don't even care if they are about to kick us out and tell us to go to a pizzaria down the street!

Best pizza on the trip....

And a temporary camera malfunction provided 'world on fire' type of pictures....amazing!

I loooooooove shopping....I even love watching other people shop!

I found the one...and I only had to go to every handbag store in the city 3 times! :)

Here's another shot of Francesca (the ring)....color accent photog by Lisa...

Yes please...I want to come back for Florence someday so I will rub the nose of this frightening boar and throw my penny into the drain...

David....the very one....we sneaked a few pictures despite the fact that the photo lady was on constant alert....however no photo can do him justice and all 3 of my travel companions agreed w/this. Must see to believe!

"I can take this guy"

Yes, Lisa, I'd be happy to take your picture....oops I didn't notice that a light post was growing out of your head....just take a couple steps to the left and lets try again.....

Dangit--I really didn't mean to give you an evergreen headress, I promise! Hmmm what else can we get to grow out of your head....

I call this one "The Biggest Loser Italy." There were lots of times where I could hear Jillian in my head..."you're lazy" or "increase your speed" or "get up" or several other versions w/lots of different expletives. :) This was my ongoing joke though---because the food is too healthy (not as delish as American food, if you know what I mean) and we walked 12 hours a day. :)

There are so many more pics but I'm exhausted so I'm done for tonight...I will end by saying Florence was 3 days of absolute bliss!!!

Siena

When Shiloh & I first started looking into hotels to book, we were considering staying one night in Siena, which is in Tuscany, between Rome and Florence. We found a review of a B&B on (Agritourismo Marciano) on TripAdvisor.com that said it was literally, heaven on earth! So we gambled and decided to check this place out and stay 2 nights.

And even with expectations that high, it faaaaaar exceeded everything! It is truly a place you just have to see to believe!!

This was part of our suite....

And the view out the windows (no screens!)....

The city was built completely on a hill, so everything was either up or down. It was this amazingly old, beautiful city with shops, shops, restaurants and more shops! And not much traffic--mostly all pedestrian streets.

This pic somewhat illustrates what it's like just walking around...

The first night we were there, the staff made us a 5 course dinner....it was one of the best moments of the trip getting to know all these fabulous people....

Il Campo....the main square (photography by Amanda)...

Me & two of my favorite things...

We almost gave up finding the lunch spot we were looking for, but were so glad we didn't because the food was amazing and the scenery might have been even better!

Shiloh, me, Pope....

When we ran into this shop, it was so much to take in we had to just stop and stare for a minute....

And in the end, we all ended up finding some treasures inside (no big surprise). I bought an out of this world piece of jewelry which you will see in my Florence post--which is next after this one...

And then dinner that night, in some sort of an old winery that they now use as a restaurant...
Siena was divine. It was a completely different pace than the other 3 that we went to---so amazing and so worth the detour!!!

Paris & Rome

Just looking at the title of this post gives me chills!!!! (sigh) I am finally getting around to blogging about my unbelievable trip to Italy. After reading Lisa's posts, I'm feeling inspired. So, Shiloh, Lisa & I headed out on November 5...first stop: Paris.

Occasionally the airlines do a good thing....like forcing you to have an 8 hour layover in Paris! :) IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! And it was a nice reward after a flight of almost constant turbulence. This was my 10th time to Europe and I'm pretty sure this was the worst overseas flight EVER!!! Not only was it impossible to sleep, but I was having visions of plunging into the Atlantic...no, not good!

But waiting for us on the other side.....

I cannot get enough of that thing.

Seriously!

And of course Laduree macaroons were the 2nd most important thing in Paris!

Flying from Paris to Rome was like going from Salt Lake to Denver (except apparently they are still serving meals on short flights in other countries....not that I really saw what mine was b/c I was so out of it but I smelled it at some point). And I will also mention that not once did we fill out documentation of any kind on our way over!

We stayed in this cute little hotel, close to the Spanish Steps. Amanda traveled separately so we waited anxiously until she arrived Saturday morning. It was a happy reunion. :)

Day 1 in Rome we did:

Spanish Steps....

Double-decker bus tour...

(totally breaking my own rule of leaning away from the camera...what is that pose anyway? It's like my "Edward, please bite me" pose or something...)

Colosseum...

(I wore my Gladiator sandals for the occasion...)

And the Trevi Fountain...which for me, is the Eiffel Tower of Rome. It's the one thing that you just have to see to believe!

Of course we had to enjoy some gelato at the same time....

Actually, Rome is full of things you just have to see to believe. :)

Rome Day 2:

I learned that all over Rome they have ancient water fountains with drinkable water!! This was the one right by our hotel....

St. Peter's Basilica...

Climbed to the top too....this first one is inside the dome....

Because it was a dome, the stairways were curved at the top....

The amazing view...

I took a cool 360 video of the Vatican...to give a feel for what it is like to stand right there...

Walked through some other awesome areas....

Piazza Navona....

Pantheon....

And ended the night at the best place in Europe for Diet Coke....McDonalds....

And then really ended the night at the Trevi....

Rome Day 3:

The Forum....

(I love ruins....but this is the one thing that I think Vegas has improved! I mean how totally brill to take an idea from something that was so amazing and turn it into the most lucrative shopping mall in the world! Everything else in Vegas does not even come close to the real thing!)

Vatican Museum....

Of course we hit the Trevi...and we also found my new favorite make-up store....

Tuesday morning, we buzzed on over to say bye to the Trevi....

And to have one last sit on the amazingly ergonomically correct butt benches...how can two square, iron bars be comfy to sit on? Seriously have to try them out to believe it....

Saying goodbye to Rome was NOT easy...but knowing we had such great things in the future made it a little more bearable....Tuesday morning we caught a bus to Siena and enjoyed a 3 hour ride through Tuscany.....

To be continued....