not so mini-vans and Montebelli, at last!

The journey to Tuscany was an exciting one, to say the least. The mini-vans that we reserved turned out to be...well...maxi-vans. Ms. Darling had a smaller version, in blue. Stylish, as always. Needless to say, the kids were riding in style, which was good thing as it turned out to be a challenge to exit Florence. Once that was accomplished, we headed to the ever intimidating walled city of Monteriggioni for a delectable meal. The best pasta, hands down, ever. We all agreed. We then took a very long ride down to Montebelli, with a slight unwanted detour through Guincarico, a mountain town with VERY narrow, VERY steep streets. The students enjoyed this immensely. Couldn't get to Montebelli fast enough! We were welcomed by the warm staff, sweet dogs, and clouds of jasmine. For dinner we had personal pizzas cooked il forno, as well as a full antipasta bar. Best of all, we got a swim in the pool afterward!

Florence--Day 2

A fabulous night's rest in our quaint little tents set us up for another fun day in Florence. On our way to the Duomo, we stopped by the famous Boar fountain to rub his nose for good luck. We then admired the gorgeous Duomo and waited in line *forever* until we finally got to climb to the top. Many, many stairs later we all agreed--what a view! After the long descent, we grabbed some cappuccini and panini and headed over to see David in the Accademia. Grabbed a few treasures in the market and headed back towards homebase. Stopped along the way at an enoteca for a delicious dinner.

San Giovanni's Day

Well, as we returned from our first day in the city, we walked past the Piazzalle Michelangelo to find it completely blocked off. Turns out, that is where they would be shooting off fireworks from! Right next to our campsite, no less! We had dinner close by, in anticipation of the view we would have. Sure enough, at around ten, as Kali aptly described before, the heavens opened. FOR AN HOUR! The kids the topped off the evening by taking over the empty dance floor at the restaurant. A wonderful night.

Due to lack of service...

I'll be updating the blog a bit, now that we have returned. Internet access was spotty, as expected. We were also on the go until ten in the evening, at least, so blogging took a back seat. I'll also add a few thoughts to previous posts, as well as photos.

The train to Florence was exciting, but we were all a little tired and disoriented upon arrival. We caught the bus up to our campground and dropped our stuff off so that we could hurry down to the Uffizi for our appointment. Inside, we saw many Italian pieces from the 11th century and talked about the iconographic style of that period. Most of the pieces were very religious, which created an easy segue to Lady Gaga. We moved on to the influence of the Medici's on the study of art, specifically Bronzini's work (which Nadia presented for us) as well as Bottecelli's (which Constantine presented). Unfortunately, Zoe's Uccello painting was out on exhibition, but we did see a similar one of his in the Louvre. We headed back to the campsite, stopping for a well-deserved gelato on the way. BTW, Coach Delinsky, the girls wanted me to take a pic of them running up to the campsite to show you that they really did work out!