Tuscany

We left Florence and spent the afternoon driving through Tuscany. While February isn't the ideal time of year to see Tuscany it was still amazingly beautiful, and we had the small country roads all to ourselves! The wide open spaces, fresh air, and natural beauty were so welcome and refreshing after a week in crowded, closed-in towns. The rolling hills filled with vineyards and olive groves were so beautiful. Yet another place that sparked the conversation starter, "How can we live here?"

We stopped and let the girls run around in this vineyard...it was so incredible.

Florence

Ever since I saw the movie Room With a View in high school I've wanted to go to Florence. Of course, my experience in Florence was nothing like the romantic woman in the movie who lazily gazed out her window over the city. We were in an "historic" hotel which usually means it is really old, very small, and doesn't have an elevator. Well, this hotel had an elevator that maybe a family of chiwawa's could fit in...so we lugged our stuff up 4 flights of stairs. Our bathroom was down the hall, even though it belonged to our room. We had a "partial view" of the Arno River. The worker at the hotel was a quintessential, feminine, flamboyant Italian man and spoke (sang) to us like this: "You'lla finda everythinga thata youa needa. Oka? Oha, brava!" At this point in the trip we were worn out. But here we were in Florence! As was our usual schedule, Geoff slept in while the girls and I ate the small complimentary breakfast at the hotel. We would eventually make our way out the door between 11-12:00. In our two afternoons we saw Michelangelo's David (Wow!!! is about all I can say about that!), the Duomo and Baptistry, Piazza della Signoria, San Lorenzo parish church, Santa Maria Novella (church), the Uffizi museum, Ponte Vecchio, and Palazzo Pitti. These sites are filled with paintings and sculptures by artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli and Donatello. We all learned a lot about the Renaissance, Florence history and what makes it one of the world's greatest artistic capitals. We made a scavenger hunt for the girls to try to keep things interesting. They had to find a Corinthian capital, a painting describing Dante's Divine Comedy, the painting The Birth of Venus, the statue of Perseus beheading Medusa, etc. They tired of the hunt idea but they saw it all anyway. It was a lot to take in.

The girls by the statue of Perseus, intended to tell enemies their fate. A guy is coming to tell them to get off the wall; Ceci is probably sticking out her tongue at him.

Statue of Neptune, the Roman sea god in the Piazza della Signoria. We had a lot of conversations about why the statues and paintings were of naked men and women. The boxers with a close-up of David's private parts, and other "dirty" souvenirs, threw off our artistic-human-body-and-learning-about-dimension explanation.

A side view of the Duomo

And a front view.

The East doors on the Baptistry were dubbed by Michelangelo "Gate of Paradise". Each relief is a scene from the Old Testament. (During this time one could not enter a church unless first baptised so it was separate from the church.)

Another view of the Duomo with it's attached chapel on the left.

Geoff, Tennie and Adele climbed the 400 stairs to the top of the Duomo tower. I stayed behind with Ceci to not freak out and pass my fear of heights onto my girls.

The tower climb...

In our first church we took this picture of the ceiling. We then discovered that there are photograph watchmen everywhere, and it was our one and only interior photograph. Which leads me to comment briefly about the sign at the entrance of each church that would say something like: No photos, no shorts, no sandals, no food, no dogs, and reverent voices. This is a house of worship. Please pay 8 euro at the window.

Walking down the street there was always a fun view like this...

or this. Isn't this a great family bike!?

Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in the city, was built in 1345 and has an interesting history. The shops along the bridge used to be filled with blacksmiths, butchers and tanners (who used the river for their waste). Duke Ferdinando I, one of the Medici family rulers, was tired of the noise and stench and replaced them with jewelers and goldsmiths. In 1565 a corridor was built above the bridge for the Medici family so they could move about their residences without having to mix with the public.

A view off one side of the bridge...

and off the other.

A cute little balcony on the bridge. Europe is full of flower boxes in every window...I love it!

We had one day of rain (the rest of our Italy trip was spectacularly sunny!)

The Palazzo Pitti was built for a banker, Luca Pitti, in 1457. He was determined to outdo the Medici family (the ruling family of the region) through his display of wealth and power. Ironically, poor Mr. Pitti went bankrupt when building costs got too high. The Medici family purchased it and it became their main residence. This was a common theme for me in Florence, people trying to show wealth and power and out-rival everyone else that was wealthy and powerful. Most of their pompous displays of wealth were mingled with scripture. For example, a couple would commission a famous painter to paint a picture of Jesus on the cross, and then they would have the painter paint them at Jesus' feet in their beautiful robes...worshipping. The churches were far more like museums than places of worship. I appreciated all of the art but truthfully, I was turned off by the obvious obsession with money, power and name brands (from a Botticelli designed railing then to a Gucci handbag now).

Let us all learn a lesson from poor Mr. Pitti!

A break from the sites to feed pigeons

We came across a little shop that sold fine paper, stationary, etc. The owner was so friendly and interested in the girls. He demonstrated how he made a marbled design on paper. The girls loved it.

And that's all on Florence!

Carnival

When we first got to Venice their were hints of Carnival everywhere. The girls loved the fancy costumes and spent their own money to buy themselves a mask.


They longed to dress up and be a part of the masquerade. On Saturday morning, the first day of Carnival, we took them to The Disney Store where they were outfitted in fancy gowns and "capes" and I gave them "fancy" hair-dos. We figured the memory would last forever. It turned out to be a great decision to get into the fun. The girls had a day of stardom. Everywhere they went and anytime we stoped, people gathered to photograph the 3 princeses. They would stand together and pose for photographs, often for 10 minutes at a time! They felt so fancy and loved all the attention! Geoff and I bought capes and masks, too. Some of the costumes people wore were incredible! I only took a handful of photos but you can get a taste of how people were dressed up. The pictures are chronological throughout the day.

Tennie is the only one of the three that actually wore her mask

St. Mark's Square is where most of the activity was. There was a Dinosaur Parade where two huge dinosaurs walked around the square. It was very cool!

A gelato break...

The girls posing for a few of the dozens and dozens of photographs taken of them

Even the dogs were dressed up

They had a kid's area with clowns and face painting. Most kids were dressed up in typical Halloween costumes: fairies, pirates, clowns, etc.

My mask was made out of plaster and not comfortable!

I couldn't even smile! But it was so fun to be dressed up.

Since we've been home we've been reading the Magic Tree House book about Venice and Carnival. The girls feel like they are in the book! They know exactly what it is like. We had a great time and were sad to leave. On our way out of town we went to church on mainland Venice. It was in a super cool Italian building full of light. The ward goal in 2009 is "Create Zion". An area authority from England was there and spoke...in English. There was a great spirit there. Arrivederci Venice!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse

Valentine's Day in Venice

One day in early January the girls were talking about how Valentine's Day wouldn't be fun this year because they wouldn't have a class party and get valentines from their friends and classmates. We promised a party at Z School, and on the sly I emailed friends and family a request to send valentines so we could surprise them. On our brief stopover in Menton we found a pile of valentines waiting. While our party wouldn't be happening as planned, our surprise still could! On Valentine's Day we did our sight-seeing in Venice and then went to the hotel room for the surprise. They had no idea what it was but were full of curiosity and anticipation. When we dumped a bag full of valentines on the bed, and took turns opening and reading them, I can't describe the overwhelming love and friendship we felt from so many of you. It made the girl's year...seriously! They'll always remember it.

We went to dinner at the oldest restaurant in Venice, around since 1500. It was late when we finished dinner. As we walked home we passed a square that had several outdoor bars where people gathered to drink and socialize. There was loud music playing and we couldn't help but stop and dance for several songs! It was so much fun. Tennie proclaimed it her best day ever.

The oldest restaurant in Venice just over a bridge

Here's too great friends and family!