Arrivederci!

Tomorrow morning we leave for home. English is too proper a language to convey the depths of our despair, but an Italian opera might be up to the task. We must return. There are more people to meet. More weird soccer cheers to learn. More beers to drink, wines to sniff, and alleys to explore. Thanks everybody for following along and for all of your great comments!

Milan's Duomo

Another example of Gothic architecture. It's one of the world's largest churches, 2nd in Italy only to St. Peter's Basilica. Built in 1386 and then not really completed even now. Napoleon finished the facade in 1805, and playing to type, put a statue of himself on one of the spires. Totally gorgeous and impossible to take a bad picture of.

Is this heaven? Nope, it's Milan

Shopping, shopping, shopping, that's what Milan is mostly about. They have EVERY store and designer and everyone walking around on the street looks like a supermodel. Don't believe me? The picture to the left is their mall! It was the first building to use steel and glass as structural material instead of decorative. I have to admit, not a bad place to shop.

Perfect Convalescence

If a person has to be under the weather in sunny-even-in-winter Italy, they could do far worse than Antonella's beautiful home situated high in the Tuscan hills. I know Melissa has already commented on how great Antonella is, but we really can't say enough about her and her B&B. Not only were the views gorgeous, not only was our room (which consisted of dining area, kitchen, a large bedroom, and large bath) spotless and beautifully decorated, not only were the grounds landscaped meticulously, but Antonella was an amazing host! She baked me a cake, brought Melissa tea when she was sick, cooked me dinner, brought us homemade cookies, and would have likely made every other meal if only I'd allowed it, but gave us three bottles of wine as a gift upon our departure! Wow! Of all the places we've stayed, of which all were great, Mugello B&B was far and away my favorite. Thanks, Antonella. We'll be back, and next time we'll be healthy! Here's the link to her site (and here's the web address spelled out just in case, http://www.agriturismo.net/vicchio-1914/), if you need to book.

Our trip route...

Happy Birthday, John!

Today is John’s birthday and luckily, we’re both back to being healthy again… yea! Antonella brought him a homemade cake this morning (see, told you she was amazing). Today we’re off to Milan to spend the last couple of days before we come home.

Didn’t Siena much…

The next day we got up early and headed to Siena, which is in the heart of Tuscany (and about an hour away). I was feeling a little off in the morning, but decided I was fine so we headed out anyway. Through sheer force of will I made it all the way to Siena, got out of the car, and realized there was no way I could walk the 10 feet to the first site. Turns out, I came down with exactly what John just had. We turned immediately around and came back to our hotel and it was my turn to stay in bed for 24 hours. By the time I was feeling better, it was pretty much our last day in Tuscany, so we didn’t get to see much. Luckily we stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast where the owner, Antonella, was outrageously nice. She kept coming by and asking if I needed anything, brought me tea, and even made dinner for John one night.