Florence was our first stop after the couple of days in the middle of nowhere (which don’t get me wrong was even more beautiful that some of the sights we saw). My first impression of Florence was not very good. Everything seemed a little dirty and I don’t know, I guess because it was the first “real” city we were visiting in Italy and I had heard so many great things about it my expectations were a little high.

There were parts that just didn’t appeal to me but it was beautiful. The churches and specially seeing the statue of David made it worth while. Our hotel was not so great because I’m not sure if you know in Europe if you reserve a 3 star hotel it is really a 2, a 4 is a 3 and so on.. We were told that, but we didn’t quite believe it until we got there and experienced it for ourselves. (we didn’t make the same mistake in Rome or Pisa.)

Overall, our stay in Florence was good, but not sure its a place I would return to…

I’m not sure if you all know that the main reason we went to Italy on our vacation was because Matt had been working there for a while as the Music Director for the soon (October) to be released Andrea Bocelli DVD special from PBS. We took advantage and met him there.

In our photo gallery you can see a couple of the rehearsal shots I was able to take. The show was in the Teatro del Silenzio in a town called Lajatico (the middle of nowhere). They had planned to record two shows so my mom and I were going to take turns taking care of the kids while the other saw the show but on the night my mom went they cancelled the show due to very strong winds so i told her to go the next night and that I would go to the rehearsal..so even though I didn’t get to see the actual show, the rehearsal sometimes is even better. I was able to hear Bocelli sing along with one of my favorite singers Sara Brightman.

Matt did an excellent job, it was very impressive to see him directing the entire thing..My mom loved the show which you can all see in PBS soon.

Did you miss me? I’m sure you have been patiently waiting for my return to hear all about our trip to Italy. Needless to say I will have to write our experience in several posts due to the great amount of information I have to share with all of you. So I will break it down by city then by special points of interest.

Overall, we had a great time, it was hot but at night it cooled down and the weather was awesome. Poor Isabella was sick the entire time with a cold and fever but in a way that was good for us because she didn’t have her usual energy. Marco was a real trouper, he walked many miles with us never once complaining that we were going to see another church or museum.

My mother came with us which allowed Matt & I to have a couple of evenings dining alone, very romantic. The food was great but after eating pasta, pizza and salad for 8 days I was ready for a big old hamburger.

You can view all the pictures here.