TUSCANY WITH PATRIZIA

Here we are at our last full day and we are off to the very edge of Tuscany at Cortona and over into the region of Umbria to Assisi. Cortona has become famous for the book and movie Under the Tuscan Sun and Assisi is best known for its two Medieval saints - St. Francis and St. Clare. The weather was beautiful today as we enjoyed these two lovely towns. Pat and Dick remained behind in Florence to prepare for an early morning departure back home tomorrow. Mary Ellen and Marybeth have a morning flight too but not quite as early. Sue and Rick, Larry and Jill will be taking a train from Florence to Rome to spend a few days in the Eternal City before going back home. Patrizia has a day to pack and be ready for her flight on the 16th. It has been a wonderful tour as we have seen the sights, eaten the food and savored the wines that Italy generously offers her visitors. Arrividerci !

See more photos here:

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Two hours after leaving Florence by train we were in the floating city of Venice. One of Italy's most unique cities, it is also the only truly pedestrian city in Europe. No cars, no scooters, no bikes. The only wheels we saw were on baby strollers and rolling luggage. Our 45 minute "cruise" down the grand canal on a vaporetto - like a city bus with no wheels - brought us close to all sorts of water traffic. The gondolas were fun to watch and the Lamberts and Harris' took a ride on one later in the day. St. Mark's Square was full of people and pigeons as usual. There were plenty of shops and cafes to tempt us into many stops throughout the afternoon until we met again at the train station for our train back to Florence. Great weather - great day! More later . . .