Today's driver, Mateo II, was interest, and not in a good way; close talker, looks at me more than the road and a political science major. Kinda reminds me of Chandler from Friends, but not as cute. Anyways, he takes us to Sienna and shows us the Piazza del Campo where the  Palio di Siena , a horse race, takes place. Check it out on youtube. Amazing!After a quick stop at a pastry shop for yummy almond things, we walk to Siena's cathedral. Chandler ca...

Today's 'tour' isn't really a tour. Essentially, its just us and a driver who's taking us to Lucca and Pisa. Mateo I, because tomorrow is Mateo II, is very nice and knowledgeable. (No, I really don't say that about every guide we had; wait til tomorrow.) While driving we talk and I mention my daily, one way 40 mile commute. He swears in Italian. Later on, I'll mention I grew up in RI which has a high population of Italian immigrants s...

This was an early friggin morning! Pick up outside the hotel at 4:45am. 4 : 45 in the morning!!!!! Aaargh!! The things I do for the kids. Of course, when asked months ago,"Want to go on a balloon ride? It means getting up early?" they both said sure. This morning they weren't so sure. We took off just outside of the walled city monteriggioni, between Firenza and Sienna. Yes, it was early and a bit chilly and the pilot didn't speak English but it was ver...

So we get to the hotel uneventfully and they have a bar that opens at 4pm. What more do you need for a good day? Although, I think I was a bit tired and confused the proprietors a bit. We check in and they obviously speak Italian. I answered them in French and Greek. Yup, I was tired and they got confused. Either way, we got to what would be they nicest room on the trip and we had our own courtyard to boot. Chris and Todd arrive about an hour behind us so we ave...