I think that the area of Tuscany should be renamed Medici – after all this is the family that pretty much owned the whole countryside up until the mid-18th century. Originally a family who began in the textile trade and founded what is still the world’s oldest operating bank in 1472, the Medici’s rose from being common citizens to […]
MoreI was a good little bunny and booked my tickets in advance to see the Statue of David, which happens to be today. I am glad that I made reservations, because the line to get in is now two hours long, just to see ONE statue. However, he is quite massive, exquisite, and grandiose, yet […]
MoreI apologize in advance because I am still on a dumbass kick. Rather it has metastasized into a rant proportionate to the number of churches I visit – because each time I am in one, I see more and more people do the most idiotic, somewhat (okay, mostly) disrespectful, STUPID crap. It really doesn’t matter to me what place of […]
MoreFirst off – I am a dumbass for having eaten so much at dinner last night. I had fresh crab linguine and then chocolate “treats” aka big fat piece of chocolate cake and 2 glasses of red wine. I am not sure of the alcohol content of the wine, but by the time I got back to the hotel, […]
MoreI decided to check out the Galileo museum yesterday. It seemed like quite a good idea when I embarked upon the afternoon since I am on a church and art museum strike. To begin the tour of the museum, you step into a room that houses a giant astrological clock that “Galileo built” in the 16th century and was […]
MoreI am excited to report I have found a café near my hotel who serves adequate chocolate croissants – ok they are better than adequate, they are effing GREAT! They have nearly the same amount of butter that their French counterparts do AND they are filled with chocolate cream! Served with a café latte, it […]
MoreAfter being a lazy sack of s**t yesterday, I got up early for a day trip to Cinque Terre – 7am to be exact. This is the earliest I have had to be up since I arrived in Europe and it sucked arse! I was grateful for the two-and-a-half hour bus ride there so that I could sleep […]
MoreI woke up at Noon today, after leaving Claudio in the dust at 3:30am to get back to my hotel – I told you I don’t like champagne! I chugged down water while eating an apple, some bread, and my new favorite….squeezey tube of pate before I trekked my hungover butt to Pizzale Michelangelo (which […]
MoreToday I started out with breakfast at a little place down the street from my hotel. I have to say that the Italians cannot make a croissant quite as good as the French – more butter is needed I think. However, they do load them up with custard, which does make them just as fattening and equally delicious. Then I […]
MoreI left Nice by train at 9:23am this morning for Firenze (aka Florence). Checking out of my hotel was a bit of a hassle since I asked for a discount on my bill because no one dealt with the wet floor during the four days I stayed there. In fact, each time I inquired about whether or […]
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