Florence

The next day (i dont' know what the date was at this point!). We traveled an hour and a half to Florence. Michael and I were excited to see how the city had changed since we where there 12 years ago. To our astonishment the Duomo was pretty much the same:)


Jack made many "friends" on this stop. His love affair with Aunt Josie blossomed here. He wanted to be around her more than anyone else (probably hoping for another poolside day!) and on more than one occasion he was seen "putting up his dukes" to Uncle Mark and saying, "bring it on Old Man".


Jack also made friends with our waitor at lunch. For some reason the guy loved Jack. He taught him magic tricks and chatted with him throughout the meal. After lunch Jack had a run in with the Carabanieri (Italian police). He is obsessed with police and firefighers right now, so when he saw a Carabanieri van we thought he was going to pass out. He just kept staring until the officers saw and invited him over and into the van. The guys were so nice. They let Jack climb in the van and wear the hat for a picture. After we left the van he told me he thought he would get to keep the hat. Can't always get what ya want!!


Gracie, Molly and I got an opportuntiy to do a little shopping for them in Florence. It was tough to pick and as Michael will attest to, it took us a little while (he and Mark went through 2 beers on the street outside and that was after the first half hour) It was fun to shop with the girls and see what their taste is like. Gracie is wearing the hat and outfit she picked out. Looks darling on her.


At the first church we visited, we lit candles for Socksie and all our loved ones.


Molly hung out in style at the first cafe we stopped at.

Jack really started to put the moves on Aunt Josie. This was a full court press with the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the backdrop providing some ambiance.


Yup, that's Michael's hand up trying to stop a group of Asians from walking through the picture.

Jack and his beloved Carabenieri. The guys were great and let him don the hat. He was thrilled.

The picture is the culmination of about a half hour with this waiter. He broke a toothpick inside the napkin, asked Jack to do the same, which Jack gladly obliged, but when the napking was unravelled, the toothpick was whole again! Great trick, and his goal was to get Jack to eat more of this pasta, squeezing his biceps and looking disappointed. He didn't speak one word of English, but we were all rolling in full understanding of the joke.

In the end, he gave him a pass, and let him break one of the toothpicks.

Scarves for the ladies from a streetside vendor, with Jack looking on in disappointment.

Now these were some serious bottles of wine, perhaps bigger than Big Papi referenced in other posts.

Truly breathtaking and the picture barely captures it. The center of Florence.

Gracie buttering Dad up after her purchase. As Sage said above, she was saved by the fact that Uncle Mark found a beer vendor across the street while we waited with Jack.

Even after a long day in the sun, dragged from historic site to site, they still enjoyed their meal.

We caught a parade leading to an annual sporting event (best described as a mix of rugby, soccer and wrestling) for the local provinces. The cow is the trophy.

Jack and another Carabanieri.