Planes, Trains, Boats, and Automobiles!

February 3, 2017 Firenze Up early this morning for a quick breakfast and then a walk to the station where I used my fledgling Italian to request 2 round trip tickets to Firenze.  The trains in Italy are wonderful!  Fast, clean, quiet, and very inexpensive. Our train arrives in Firenze -- it was the green one on the right! So much to see in Florence, but we had to take things slow because of my badly sprained ankle.  We decided that "less is more" and ventured off to the Duomo and then on to the Galleria Uffizi. The cathedral was built by Arnolfo di Cambio beginning at the end of the 13th century.  The Duomo stands tall over the city.  Its magnificent Renaissance (15th century) dome was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. Statues of Bruelleschi (left) and di Cambio (right) can be seen outside the Duomo. The cathedral was named in honor of Santa Maria del Fiore.  It is a massive Gothic structure that was built on the site of the 7th cen...

February 2, 2017 A late start to our day - partly due to our travels over the last 2 days, and partly due to the fact that our room is equipped with wooden shutters that completely block the sunlight.  Even during the day, unless we open them, it is dark as night in there!  As a result, we missed the included breakfast and ventured into town in search of some coffee and a light meal. Jeff is enjoying his croissant and tea.  Not pictured is my caffe macciato con latte. This coffee shop was a friendly place to enjoy a bite to eat. After this late breakfast we set about exploring Montecatini Terme itself.  Armed with our trusty umbrellas we found the town square and the smaller of two train stations, Montecatini Terme Centro.  We learned a bit more about the town and its "claim to fame."  The word "terme" means "spa" and is related to the mineral waters that are found deep underground.  From the Middle Ages through the early 90s, this ar...

January 31 - February 1 When we were still on our trip to Terceira, my good friend Travelzoo tempted us both with the opportunity to spend a week in Tuscany for just $499 each!  Airfare, car rental, 4 star hotel, and breakfast each morning all included.  Too good to resist, so we signed right up!  Although it is "winter" in Tuscany, that doesn't mean snow.  In fact one of our guides told us that it has snowed in this area only twice in the last 40 years! I have never been to Italy, but Jeff has been here a couple of times on business, so he was very excited at the prospect of making a return trip. The "deal" had us flying into Milano, renting a car, and then driving three and a half hours to the spa resort town of Montecatini Terme. We drove to JFK in a snowstorm on Tuesday, January 31st.  We left early afternoon to allow plenty of time to get there, hoping to beat much of the storm - which we did.  We arrived at our park, fly, stay hotel (Fairfiel...