Drove all day along Italy Coast

As soon as I got off the boat, Howard and I rented a car and drove up to Florence (or Firenz), stopping by Siena and San Gimignano in Tuscany country.

Siena's center, the Piazza del Campo (where they hold yearly horse races called Palio di Siena), is just like the beginning of James Bond's Quantum of Solace. It is vast and very festive.


Piazza del Campo ...imagine horses running in circles here...

The pigeon sure knows how to pose for me

Some ugly church near the Piazza

Walking the streets of San Gimignano felt like living out pages of some Medieval movie like Excalibur or Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. I can imagine knights in armor on horses gallopping through the streets. As interesting as it was, we only spent like an hour or so and hopped back onto the car.

Around 5pm, we finally arrived in Florence...checked into Hotel David by the river, ate dinner and went to bed. The next several days is going to be full of walking...which is good, weight-wise...after all the eating on the ship.