Roma

We are a week behind in this blog.  Currently we are in Seville, Spain, but you haven't heard about our adventures in Rome, Florence and Pisa yet!

Gladiator action at the Colliseum

Trevi fountain wish

Muscling the other tourists out of the way for a pic.

Rome was big, noisy and Roman.  My puny little sunglasses can't compete with the huge lunettes that some of the ladies are sporting here. Tons of scooters and great food.  We saw the Colliseum, Trevi fountains, Spanish steps and St. Peter's. Not bad for a couple of days and a five year old.  Oh and we mailed back a couple of boxes and weathered a taxi strike.  We'll be lucky if we ever see those items again.  That took up a couple of hours.  Our friend Guido has arranged an interesting variety of places for us to stay and Rome was no exception.  We stayed in a convent.  Really.  It was like a B&B but it had a curfew and internet access.  It was right near St Peter's and the Pontifical Urban University so there were lots of young men with wide open and eager faces walking around in clerical collars. One asked us where we were from as he was from Pennsylvania. He was about to take one of his finals and looked very nervous. 



We then went to Florence, the city of dreams.  We arrived in the midst of a thunderstorm but for the rest of the visit not a spot of rain.  Duomo, Piazza Michelangelo, The Medici Science Museum, the Uffizi and the Palazzo Strozzi.  Again, great food: nougat, gelato, pasta and the best panini that I have ever had in my life.  If Ace had been there he would have had three.  Picture this: foccacia, buffalo mozzarella and a small salsicce (sausage).  It was delicious.  The art was great too.  Blake caught the Renaissance masters at the Uffizi and I caught Picasso, Miro and Dali at the Palazzo Strozzi.

Then a whirlwind visit to Pisa to see the tower and take the necessary pictures.  Glad we were only there for an afternoon. Not the most attractive city outside of the duomo and the tower.

Now we are in Seville and all the stories you've heard are true.  It is a beautiful city. More anon.