The Scene of the Crime

So I left Rome three days ago and I miss it already. It really is one of my favorite places to visit - so much history and beauty. I have to admit that Italians aren't necessarily my favorite people. They're a little rough around the edges for my taste - always yelling at each other with the hands a flappin'. It can be a little disconcerting. But overall Rome is still on my top 10 list.

Left Rome and have been in Florence for two days now. For those not in the know, Florence is where my Dad had his accident last Novemeber - hence the scene of the crime. I've spent some time walking around today and I actually stumbled upon the intersection where it all went down (or at least I'm reasonably sure it's the intersection). I took pictures which I'll upload here as soon as I get decent internet (Italy and Internet do not go well together apparently).

I saw the original sculpture of David and the original "Birth of Venus" as well as some other famous art. Other than that I have just been walking around taking it all in - it's a pretty city but not my favorite. I probably wouldn't come back again.

On a side note - I've lost my crazy Ozzies. Florence was the last stop we had together before going separate ways. I'll see some of them again in a week or two when I head to Switzerland but for others is was the last time. I'll miss my little friends from down under. They are great people and it was nice to spend time with them. So now I have to find new friends - which really isn't that hard since you end up talking to all the poeple on the bus anyway. It's just a matter of finding people that I genuinely like versus people I can stand for a period of time. We'll see how it goes (either way I'll have people to hang out with and that's what matters).

I leave Florence tomorrow and head to La Spezia which is the gateway to Cinque Terre. I don't even really know what Cinque Terre is apart from a park of some sort - but it's supposed to be very pretty and on the water. So we'll see how that goes. I'm either there for 2 or 4 nights, I haven't decided just yet. I might try to get a train to Milan just to say that I've been there. But I'm sort of lazy when it comes to the planning of side trips so I probably will just stay in La Spezia.

After La Spezia it's off to Nice for a couple of nights and then on to Switzerland (Lauterbrunnen and Lucerne). From there, I might head back to Munich then to Paris and back to Nice to continue on into Spain. Or I might just go straight back to Nice and into Spain and save Paris for the end. Decisons, decisions....

Hope all is well with my peeps back home. I'll post again soon.

Florence

Hi All. I'm in Florence now and Internet access is worse than Rome so don't know if there will be lots of posts or not. We'll see if I can find free Wifi in the city.

All is well and I am going to be spending the day walking around and looking at all the art. I'll let you know how it goes.