So many photos these got overlooked!

More from my Italy albums in picasa - photos that I just discovered that never made it to my blog. A slide show of some views in both Florence and Rome.

Florence family photos

Just want to add a few pictures of my niece Aimee and her husband Eric, our hosts in Florence along with their boys Cyrus 9, and Griffin 6. They really kept me and Anton on our toes what with the latest Star Wars and video games to say nothing of the local Renaissance sights. Kudos to our host family aka local tour guides.

FYI, the first photo was taken while Aimee was making dinner reservations for us for Saturday evening, Sept. 13th. Unbeknownst to me, the white haired man entering the restaurant is the chef, well-known internationally and well-known by us at the end of the evening for shouting out each course as it was served. The evening was one of the best with superb food followed by an evening of American songs from the '60's - mostly Cat Stevens, Paul Simon - sung in English to an Italian audience. Great fun!

Sunday stroll in Boboli Gardens in Florence

The reality of leaving Florence on Monday was beginning to sink in for me. What a great trip it had been, but I'd delayed shopping for little gifts to bring home. Thinking too much about lugging stuff back and its price. Anton took time to shop for something Italian. I'm thinking I can always pick up a few items in Amsterdam between flights. (That was not to be when flight was late leaving Florence and NWA flight departure moved up by 15 minutes. Can you run on a moving sidewalk? Yes! Confirmed our decision to not check any baggage! Amsterdam airport more secure than ever.)

Sunday we headed out for a hike up a hill high above the city for a few photos then on to the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pittti. Nothing like this back in Minnesota. So here are those photos.

Harvesting Grapes in Chianti Country

More serendipity during our travels when Eric mentioned that someone had extended an invitation to harvest grapes at a nearby villa on Saturday morning. How many people get a chance to do that in Tuscany? Anton and I gladly went along but alas the directions we had were for crows. We arrived after the grapes were gathered but just in time for a typical Tuscany meal and enjoying last years wine. These are pictures of the villa and surrounding countryside along with a few posed pics with the harvested grapes. More photos in the next blog showing those who turned out for the event.

Florence - Friday AM visit to school

Testing my ability to upload photos taken at Cyrus and Griffin's school in Florence. Aimee drove the 4 of us there for an early morning visit, dropped the boys off, then drove me and Anton back to Florence before she headed to work.

Last minute trip stuff

When it comes to vacation travel there are still some pretty mundane things to do before heading to the airport: take out the garbage, water the plants, check that nothing in the refrigerator will turn green before I get back. That kind of stuff. Pretty well packed by 10AM, so walked over to Buns and Coffee for a vacation day treat plus a couple cookies for the plane. (TSA won't take those away will they?)
Talked with my mother a few minutes ago for an update on my brother John who ended up in the hospital yesterday with chills and 105 fever. He's up and about today so hopefully he'll be discharged soon.
Anton's trekking over to my place where Pearly will pick us up. If he gets here in time, I'll have him do that other end-of-summer chore: take out my window air-conditioner.
So how boring can a blog be? Even I'm fading, maybe I'll add a couple old photos just for some human interest. Ha!

Pre-trip visit in Fond du Lac

Got out the calendar and considered suggestions to block out a couple days in Rome plus weekend trip to Cinque Terra.