Firenze! (Florence)

Even though Florence was crowded (like most touristy spots) it was beautiful. They would clean the cobble stone streets each night and there was a gelatto stand everywhere you went. What more could you want? We went to the famous Ufizzi art gallery and saw priceless works by Michelangelo and other renaissance painters. We also saw the statue of David, but were not allowed to take pictures.

Do view the slide show--I've got a picture of a guy in skinny pants (everyone wore them there) it's hilarious. Our favorite part was climbing to the top of the Duomo. It had gorgeous views of the city--definitely worth the years of waiting I had to do to get there!

I have one video of us on top of the Duomo when the bells were ringing in the Campanile---you can tell from my videos that I loved to hear the bells always ringing, it was just like a fairy tale. And yes, I still turned the camera not thinking the image would go upside down. Sorry!

*Note: you can speed up or slow the slide show. If you stop your mouse on a pic, a caption will appear.

Ahhh, Venice!

Good evening! We've had a BUSY couple of weeks and I'm finally able to sit and post a little. Dustin and I were able to go to Italy and really had a great time. For anyone who has known me a long time--Italy has been a dream of mine for at least a decade. Alice stayed with her Nana in Georgia and did surprisingly well.

For the first couple days of the trip we spent it with our good friends the Giffords. They too were once Vilonia-ites, but moved to Italy in June. It was great to catch up with them and have a personalized tour of Venice which is what I have in the first slide show. I also have a video of us entering "Palazzo San Marco." The timing was perfect--sun streaming in and bells pealing. Oscar and Misty, you really know how to give a tour! Too bad the person taking the video, that would be me, keeps turning the camera upside down. . . . *Note* You can speed up or slow the slide show. Also, if you pass your mouse on one of the pictures, a caption will appear.