Today we visited Siena, the other "must see" in Tuscany besides Florence. The Piazza and the Duomo were as spectacular as we remembered them from 3 years ago. Spent too much time In various shops in my opinion (shoes, jewelry, clothes, leather goods, etc.) but Sherry and Shelley seemed to enjoy themselves. Had some wonderful Gellato in what looked like a brand new Gellaterie. After Siena we headed further south to a town called Trequanda that I'd read some good...

Today was Sunday so we decided to make it a day of rest (from sightseeing). Jim went to Mass at the Duomo next door to our hotel, but Sherry and I slept in a little longer. After breakfast we headed to a sister hotel of ours in the country (less than 10 min. away) and spent the better part of the day lounging by the pool there. The pool was in a wonderfully secluded spot in the woods and the weather was perfect. Met some folks from Israel and from London. The g...

Today Florence was on the agenda. It's about an hour drive from Radda. We managed to find parking where we wouldn't get ticketed (unlike in 2007) and walked into the centre of Florence. After seeing the copy of Michalangelo's David in the Piazza, seeing the original in the Accademia delle Arte was definitely the highlight. The Duomo (see pic) was pretty spectacular too, inside and out. Took the scenic route back to Radda. Finally figured out how the gas pump syst...

We started our day with a great breakfast on our hotel's outdoor terrace (see pic). Then it was off for a full day of sightseeing at several interesting towns nearby that still have their medieval character intact: Cantalina, San Gimignano, and Volterra. All were crawling with tourists (mostly Germans) but interesting nonetheless. Also stopped at a couple of wineries but didn't do any tastings. We thought 5 Euros for tasting a bit much and aren't planning to bri...

Today we disembarked from the Noordam. The new "expedited disembarkation" process worked well. If you don't mind "schlepping" your own luggage (which we didn't) you just walk off when your ready. Got our car rental and set the TomTom for Radda in Chianti, about 3 hours north. Made one stop in Perugia and had lunch there, near the central Piazza of the old city. Arrived safely in Radda and checked in at the Pallazo San Niccolo, the same hotel we stayed at three ye...