Florence

We are renting a car, and moving on to Florence this morning. I am on my way to pick it up.  Driving in Rome traffic is a great challenge, and I may spend the rest of the day getting lost.Florence 16 to 21 Feb 2003

We spent 5 days in Florence at the Pagnini Hotel near the Arno River.  Very nice place. The art is of course tremendous. Eye Candy everywhere you turn. Cathedrals & museums everywhere. Beth's favorite is the David sculpture.  He makes me feel just a little inadequate.

We drove from Rome to Florence.  Easy to drive into but I made the mistake of driving in the evening for a short tour. We got into a doo loop at the train  station, made about 4 circuits around the station.  Beth says it took two hours, more like 25 minutes, but still bad. She was ready to abandon ship.

It is cold here.  Looking out at the snow covered Alps I can see how depressed my father was in World War II, thinking about the next year. His Division fought all through North Africa and Italy, so had two years in the mountains in the snow and mud in foxholes, and anticipated a third before the  end of the war. Saw several old pill boxes.  Looks like a fun place to
fight.

The churches here are incredible.  As a protestant, I sometimes think that it was a shame to spend all the money on the incredible size and art in the churches, but if they had not made that expense, the art would not have been produced or preserved.  So I thank the Catholics for that. My father was blessed by the Pope during World War II at the Vatican, and so was I while on leave from Vietnam.  A fellow traveler told us we were thus Catholics by virtue of the blessing.  So be it.

Took day trips to Sienna and San Gimignano.   Both great Italian Hill Towns. Medieval walls around small towns.