Florence - our Dolce Vita Begins

This is how our trip began...a snowy drive through the Mont Blanc Tunnel into Italy through the alps.

Florence was full of beautiful architecture, the sky was clear deep blue and there were gelato shops everywhere.

The Duomo

The central market. We bought some herbs from this vendor and they were delish.

The Vatican

Let's start at the top. This is from the dome on St Peter's onto the square. E walked all the way up and had a stunning view.

Here is the shadow of the basilica on the Sistine Chapel.

The Swiss Guards. Recruits to the guards must be Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss military. Recruits must have a professional diploma or high school degree and must be between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 174 cm (5'8.5") tall.
St. Peter's tomb.

The Vatican Museum is very palatial.

Pictures are forbidden inside the sistine Chapel so these are web photos. Viewing requires enough time to acclimate and let your mind and eyes to absorb it all.
The ceiling is painted using the fresco technique of applying paint to wet plaster which can only be done in small segments to assure that the plaster is fresh. There are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, surrounded by prophets and sibyls. Adorned with architectural features that are painted on so expertly, it is hard to tell where the illusion begins and ends. We are now intimately aquainted with all of it as we bought and complete a 1000 piece puzzle!
Elliott has historical links to King Tut and was very happy to reconnect with them!

GREAT Art

Viewing Michelangelo's sculpture was breathtaking experience. It is hard to imagine how he was able to visualize let alone execute these works. They are so fine, so soft in appearance that one wants to touch them to make certain they are actually stone. Sadly the Pietà is behind glass since the vandalism some year ago, and Moses, like David in Florence, is behind a barrier.

While viewing Moses, which is in a small church away from the larger cathedrals and art galleries, the guard approached us and in very loud and forceful Italian, told Elliott to stop taking pictures because no professional photography is allowed! His new camera is really, really nice and he takes a good shot. A nice fellow to whom E had previously spoken and lent his tripod approached and explained that "in Italia, no does not mean no. In France and Switzerland and Germany, it means no, but here, just take off your jacket, put on your cap and you are a different person! Take all the photos you want!" It was worth the unpleasantness just for the story!

Ancient Rome

The Colosseum
Sterling enjoys the ins and outs of its grandeur


Photo in photo
The forum is right across the way.

To make our visit extra memorable, it started to hail!

Tuscany

We stayed in Il Castelluccio is an old medieval little castle, dated back to 1100. The accommodations were lovely and the food spectacular.



Tuscany was beautiful, elegant and wild. Here is sunrise.


The countryside surrounding our castle. the animals roamed freely on the land and encountering them on a walk was to be expected.

Elegant Tuscany

Spectacular sunset captured with E's new camera!

CARS in Italy!!!!

After all that art, Sterling needed some speed and horsepower! Just a scenic drive away we found the Mugello Race Track. On weekends, the owners of those fabulous sports cars can drive as fast as they like on the race track for a huge fee, and spectators can watch for free.

We still haven't figured out what this one was....

The stig is Italian?
Sterling loved it, of course.

And the parking lot wasn't bad either.

Eventually we figured out that there was a ride service; all you had to do was sign away all liability for your life, pay a moderate fee, and a professional driver would take you around the track. Can you guess what happened next?

Fee paid, papers signed, Sterling awaits his turn after a very lovely Italian young lady fits him in a crash helmit.

E & J question their sanity as Sterling, happy as a clam, buckles in.

And he is off...lap one....

When Sterling returns, he is a happy boy. Parents are relieved. Time to go. Really, time to go.

Oh wait, the GPS seems to think that the best route back is to go around the track again!!!!! Silly GPS.....

The next morning we leave for Nyon via what else, the Lamborghini factory and museum near Modena. It is not far and does not take long if you have a fast car. We have a Jetta deisel wagon.

The sun sets on our fabulous Italian adventure. Ciao!