As much as we enjoy traveling with Isabelle and witness her seeing the world, I’m not a fan of the one week trip to Europe.  Because here we are, done already.  It has been another great trip climaxing with a gorgeous day today after a week that was a bit chilly, though warmer than either Madrid and Paris the past two years.

Since our visit to Pisa on Tuesday, we have been enjoying sites in Florence as well as dabbling in the retail marketplaces.  We have visited Santa Croce (very lovely) where the bodies of Marconi, Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are entombed.  Re-visited the Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) to the extent they now allow which is minimal without climbing the 463 steps into the Dome, the Galleria dell’ Accademia (home of Michelagelo’s David), Santa Maria Novella around the corner from our apartment (lovely), Palazzo Davanzati (very interesting), and San Lorenzo (disappointing).

We thoroughly enjoyed repeat dinners at L’Osteria Giovanni and Osteria Pastella where the hospitality is second to none and on our last night stumbled into a place called Neromo in the Oltrarno area of the city and it turned out to be terrific.  We were the only English speakers we heard.

And I should mention that we had an excellent apartment around the corner from Santa Maria Novella that we secured through Windows on Italy.

All for now.  Off to Victoria British Columbia in about a week.

On Tuesday we headed to the Hertz facility and rented a car so we could take Isabelle’s chosen side trip to Pisa.  We found the site of a few dozen cats, all of which looked exactly alike, apparently warming themselves on the hoods and tops of the darker colored vehicles to be humorous.  Anyway, Pisa is a little over an hour’s drive from Florence on a nice divided four lane highway.

Construction on the tower began in 1173 and it almost immediately began to shift as the foundation only consisted of a ten foot deep stone pad.  Apparently all the buildings in the complex are leaning.  In the European tradition, construction continued for only another 167 years.  In 2001, engineering support was added to assure the tower would remain at its current angle, thus assuring the main attraction that supports the Pisa economy.

We spent time in the Cathedral, Campo Santo (cemetery with fabulous frescoes) and the domed Baptistry (built 1260) where we witnessed the amazing demonstration of the dome’s perfect echo production.

We returned to our favorite wine bar from 2008 when we visited it every afternoon but lo, management had changed and it just wasn’t the same.

I am having camera issues as my most versatile lense hit the pavement for the second time recently and is no longer performing at all settings.

We decided to fit in our longest walking day on Monday given the forecast of rain for the rest of the week.  So we visited the massive Pitti Palace, construction of which began in 1457 by someone named Luca Pitti, but a century later when it bankrupted the Pittis it ended up in the hands of the ruling Medicis who made it their official home.  The close up versus the far away picture of Isabelle will give you some perspective on this “home.”

On this trip we spent our time visiting the Galleria Del Costume which Konnie and I had not done before.  As usual, we spent significant time in the eqully overwhelming Boboli Gardens which are lovely and intriguing, even when the flowers are not yet showing their colors.

From there we headed up Mt. Everest (or at least that’s Isabelle’s impression of the hike) to visit San Miniato al Monte.  The walk takes you along narrow medieval streets and city walls dating to 1260 including the home of Galileo.  The church was built in 1018 and with its geometric patterned green-grey and white marble marble facade, is magnificent.

We dropped in to a place called L’Osteria Di Giovanni for dinner.  How lucky were we tonight?  Wonderful food, service and people.  We received more off the menu treats in one evening than we do at our most frequented restaurants in Denver in the long history of our patronizing them.  And not the first time we have had that experience in Italy.  Actually it is the second time on just this trip.  The restauranteurs here are magnificent.  Their service is second to no one.

Konnie, Isabelle and I left Denver the morning of March 21, 2014 as we headed off to Florence Italy for the fifth spring break trip with Isabelle.  Our first four trips took us to New York City, London, Madrid and Paris.

After an uneventful trip over that took us through Chicago and Frankfurt Germany, we’ve been experiencing less than desirable travel weather with our first full day consisting mostly of a pelting thunderstorm and chilly temperatures.  We have managed to see some of the city with the highlight being a visit to Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine.  There one can view The Life of St. Peter frescoes commissioned by the Florentine merchant Felice Brancacci around 1424.  The work by Masaccio and others is considered groundbreaking for the time and an important source of study for the great Renaissance artists to follow.  The work was finished in 1480.

Sunday lunch with locals at Ristorante Alla Griglia and an outstanding dinner at Osteria Pastella where the pasta is made in full view at the front of the restaurant.