Did I mention there were 400 of these things? (pant, pant, choke, pass out)
We got up a bit more than halfway and it was REALLY high. I was tired, legs hurting, but I wanted to go further. Brandi and Bridget weren't wanting to, since it was so high, but then the bells started ringing... The massive stone walls shook with the sound of it. It was crazy-loud. By the time it settled into just one repeating low tone, the exhiliration had taken hold. While I was standing there, humming the guitar line from "For whom the bell tolls", Brandi took off running for the next flight of stairs. Bridget and I followed. It was great. We ran like mad and hit the top while the bells were still shaking the earth to the core. It was exiting.

A view of the Duomo in Firenze. 

uh... more room service, please. Thanks! 

Now THIS is room service. 

Dessert at Giubbe Rosse. The closest is Tiramasu... oh scrumptous tirimasu, how I love thee! Come to me! Come to me, tiramasu! 

Our favorite cafe. We ate here again on our last evening in Florence, so you'll see more of it. :) 

Musicians played in the carousel square. Another day there was an opera singer. We could watch and listen from the comfort of our favorite cafe. 

I like Coffee. I like tea... I love the Java Jive and it loves me. Coffee and Tea and the Java and Me... a cup...a cup... a cup, OH! (What, you people don't listen to the Ink Spots?) 

It was night when we climbed the tower, so only interior shots came out.  

That's right... 400+ of these.... 

Outside view of the tower we climbed. Over 400 stairs, they said. Felt like 800. 

Some stuff on a building. 

One of the street-markets just before it closed down for the night. 

Brandi and Bridget next to some amusing grafitti 

First restaurant we ate in in Florence.... yum! 

This is our room, hard-wood floors and all. The windows opened in layers... wooden shutters, colored glass (in tiny multicolored panes), and clear glass all opened inwards, opeing completely so you could hang out over the street. There were wooden slat-type shutters outside too. 

Only I would post 2 pics of the tub in our room, but it was just so awesome. 

The mile-high shower... my dream tub 

The next stairway, from our floor to the one above... Hotel Baglioni... Georgeous. 

Around that column was a staircase, here is Brandi at the top of it. 

Every inch of our hotel was full of Arches and columns. I'll have to put a link in here for the hotel so you can read about it's history... another day, perhaps. 

It seems like every building in Italy is a work of art. This is in Florence (Firenze). 

Bona Sera Italia!

Salve!
On December 4th, I left the states, arriving in Paris Sunday late afternoon. From there, we flew to Firenze, Italia (Florence). We spent one wonderful week there. I want to live there for a few months someday, perhaps study at a university there. The food was divine, and SO much healthier than anything you find here in the states. We walked a LOT, spent too much money on food, met a friendly street-artist (I should do that someday)... It was an entirely different world. It was so different, and yet I felt like a part of me belonged there more than here at home. I could not move there permanently. I'd miss the hills and woods of my home area, even if I could move my loved-ones and friends with me. Still, I felt very at home there. If you are what you eat, then they are a healthy culture who know how to appreciate every tasty bit of life, and not muck it up with unhealthy short-cuts. I did not get to go inside the colloseum. Some day I must.
Thanks a bazillion to my dear friend. If it were not for you I could not have gone.