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Florence, Italy

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

We’re a few hours away from catching a train to Rome, which will conclude our brief stop in Europe. We spent the last few days walking around Florence, seeing Michealangelo’s “David”, and eating lots of good Italian food.

We ate two of our best dinners, thus far on the trip, in Florence. The first night we ate at a local establishment called Osteria Vineria Brincello. We were served by these two crazy guys named Max and Gabry. Max, unfortunately, had to say goodbye the day before to his girlfriend from Spokane, WA. He was a little sad when we got there but happy to meet someone else from Washington state. The food was simple, fresh, and tasty and was just what we were in the mood for.

For our second dinner we ate at “All Aqua al Due”, which has two restaurants in the world… one in Florence and the other in San Diego, CA. They’re known for their balsamic steak, which we each had, it was good but was a little tart after eating the whole steak.

This morning we went to the Accademia Gallery where the David is on display. I didn’t know what to expect, but I have to say it was amazing. My only suggestion would have been a loin cloth for David since he was a little overexposed for my taste. Shelly and I just sat there and looked at the statue for a good 15 minutes. If you are ever in Florence, I would recommend a quick stop to see it.

O.K., we have to run because my Internet session is about to run out of time. We’ll post again after spending some time in Rome.

Venice and Florence, Italy

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

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After two days of fun in Venice with Tim and Sondra, we sadly had to say goodbye and catch a train to Florence. The last two days have been incredibly fun and Venice was amazing. The weather couldn’t have been better with clear, sunny skies and moderate temperatures made for an exciting weekend.

As mentioned earlier, this weekend was the start of Carnival in Venice so all the characters were out in full force. Much of the crowd was dressed in their costumes, parading around in anonymity. Shelly was a little timid around anyone with a mask and for good reason. She said “you never know if it’s a guy pretending to be a girl behind that mask and gown”… good point.

We spent most of our time in Venice browsing through shops, finding cheap places to eat, touring the local sites, and getting lost in the Venetian alleyways. The roads were so confusing that we were lost most of the time but it’s hard to get truly lost when you’re on an island. After winding through the backalleys we’d eventually find our way back to familiar territory.

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Tim, Sondra, Shelly and I (taking the picture) lost in a Venetian alleyway

Another one of our missions was to find cheap places to eat because the prices were incredibly inflated because of Carnival. Yesterday afternoon we strolled into a local establishment and had an “off the menu” meal at the recommendation of the server… big mistake. At the end of our lunch, which was very good I might add, we were handed a bill for 90 Euros, which is about $140 US. After that expensive lesson we started eating $1.50 pizza slices at Crazy Pizza. The food situation in Venice was summed up best by a girl we overheard while strolling through the alleys. She said of a $2.00 slice of pizza… “I’m not even hungry, but at that price I’ll force myself to eat”… so true.

Our evenings were spent hopping from wine bars to pubs and then back to wine bars. Our favorite place was a wine bar named Enoitica Mascareta Mauro Lorenzon. Mauro Lorenzon not only named the place after himself, but he also joined in the nightly celebration with his patrons. Mauro had a wild head of brown curly hair, wore red pants, and two different shoes. He was the life of the party and we had a great time drinking his favorite wines and sampling his cheese and meat platters. If you’re ever in Venice, his place is not to be missed.

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Shelly’s goal is to take a picture in front of a pig in every country we visit

As for Florence, there’s not too much to write about because we just got into town. It’s nice to get back to a normal town and out of the crazy tourist trap known as Venice. We don’t have much planned over the next 4 days as we rest up before traveling to Egypt. We may try to take an Italian cooking class tomorrow morning and see a few sites, but that’s about it. Bye for now!

Milan and Venice, Italy

Friday, January 25th, 2008
For the first time in a week, I finally have a keyboard that I'm accustomed to using. Those French are always trying to be different... Anyway, to get everyone caught up, Shelly and I have spent the past few ... [Continue reading this entry]

Paris and Nice, France

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
After two fun filled days in Paris, we sadly had to say goodbye. We ate tons of great French food (I especially liked the duck), visited the Orsay Museum which houses many of the great impressionist works, toured the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Paris, France

Monday, January 21st, 2008
IMG_0678-1.jpg Hi everyone, Just a quick note to let you know that we are in Paris and are LOVING it! It is a lot colder (from 100° to 45°) and a lot more expensive (at least ... [Continue reading this entry]

Europe

Sunday, January 20th, 2008
We successfully made it to Madrid, Spain after a 12 hour flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Shelly and I are just relaxing in the Iberia lounge, drinking some coffee, and checking email. Our short flight to Paris departs ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Tale of the Tails

Saturday, January 19th, 2008
As our last post from Buenos Aires, I think it is important to document one of the most prevalant things about our stay: tails. While in Buenos Aires, we saw: Hundreds of dog tails Dozens of human tails and One little pig tail The ... [Continue reading this entry]

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Days 6 and 7

Thursday, January 17th, 2008
The hot weather has finally subsided and we´re able to enjoy the daylight hours without soaking in sweat. The last few days have been fairly uneventful for a guy vacationing with three women. Lots of walking around and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
Yesterday we took a high-speed hydrofoil from Buenos Aires to the sleepy town of Colonia in Uruguay. Originally settled by the Portuguese in the 1600´s this town still retains much of its old world charm. The trip took ... [Continue reading this entry]

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Days 3 – 5

Sunday, January 13th, 2008
IMG_0587.jpg Yesterday, our friend Kajsa arrived in Buenos Aires so the whole crew is finally together. The weather has been pleasant over the past few days, but today it got sticky wet again. A ... [Continue reading this entry]