I say Florence, you say Firenze...

Florence is beautiful!  I have been wandering around like a mad woman trying to soak in as much as possible and I have the aching feet to prove it. 

The other day, I climbed the 414 steps to the top of the Bell Tower and was rewarded with stunning views of the city.  When I was here before, the city struck me as being nice but it was not this impressive and, to be honest, I didn't understand what all the fuss was about.  I preferred Verona to the crowds and tourist traps of Florence, but with this trip I finally get what everybody has been raving about.  While there are a lot of tourists here, it seems considerably less than my previous visit, and I think that makes a big difference.  Then, the weather is just a perfect backdrop.

After stumbling upon the most appalling meal imaginable in Milan, I have been extremely lucky in finding fantastic hole-in-the-wall places here in Florence. 

I've been looking for tiny, family-run places on hidden back alleys and so far they have been charming, friendly, and yummy.  I will say, though, that after a quarter-carafe of red wine with lunch, I need a little nap. 

Ciao Tutti!

After all the trials and tribulations of Sunday/Monday's travels, all is going very nicely now!  We arrived in Milan late on Monday and had a really full day yesterday.  In the morning we were at the Bocconi Universita and had a really interesting lecture on luxury brand marketing from one of the Bocconi's faculty members.  After that we took a break for lunch and then had a tour of Milan and saw the Sforza Castle, the Duomo, and the last supper.  All of which was very interesting. 

At the Sforza castle, I found this cat who reminded me of poor, dear, departed Schnuffy---except this one, besides being twice the size of Schnuffy, was probably an infinitely better cat.  Sure...other people travel to Italy and take pictures of the art and architecture, but I take pictures of stray cats...

I was intersted in the architecture of the castle--here at the main entrance of the castle I was curious about the cut-out in the wall just to the left of the entrance and as it turns out, there used to be a drawbridge which covered the entire entrance (where the giant plaque is now) and the mechanism to raise and lower it was housed in the cut-out.

Milan has spent the last three years cleaning the facade of the Duomo and it positively sparkles now--it's beautiful.  We did not go up to the top to walk among the spires yesterday but I am planning to next week when Ian arrives.

Then in the evening we strolled through the fashion district and stopped for "aperitivo" or happy hour at this strange little place called the "Colonial".  All in all a very good day.

This morning we were over at the Bocconi again for a tour of the campus and this afternoon we have off to explore on our own.  Many of the students have gone to Venice for the day and a few have gone up to Lake Como.

Well...I am off to do a little exploring and a little shopping!

This is not Milan

We have not quite gotten to Italy yet due to last night's eruption of the Icelandic volcano and the subsequent ash cloud. We were diverted to Paris (rather than AMS) and now we are waiting for our flight which will take us to Milan. Despite our sleep deprived state and the constant change in plans, our merry little group remains surprisingly merry! We should get into Milan at about 8pm.


Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well with this next leg of the journey!