Yesterday was spent at sea which gave us an opportunity to still recover from jet lag. Today we went on a tour of Florence. We went to the Accademia where Michelangelo's "David" is on display. It took him 3 years to complete and was impressive. The detail is amazing! We then had lunch at the castle of Napoleon's sister. We were wowed by the grandeur of the dining hall! We had a typical Italian lunch. First course of lasagna and second course of meat, pota...

This morning we went to see the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. Vatican City is 100 acres with high walls surrounding it. There are 28,000 visitors to the Vatican each day so we were glad we had a tour to reduce the wait. The museum is amazing with miles of galleries of art. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is almost unbelievable with the detail in every scene. We then proceeded to St.Peter's Basilica and were fortunate to see the Pope on the steps in front ...

Today we took a tour to the Val D'Orcia region of Tuscany. The county was beautiful, and it was just like the many pictures we have seen of Tuscany. We stopped in the villages of Montepulciano and Pienza. They were as imagined with the narrow cobblestone streets with open door shops and homes with flower boxes. Quaint and so picturesque. We also stopped at the St. Antimo's Abbey to hear the beautiful chants of the Monks in a spectacular setting. It was very ...

We arrived in Rome this morning and checked into our hotel which is in the heart of the city which has been great for sight seeing. We took a tour this afternoon of ancient Rome including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and St.Paul's Basilica. It is very amazing to be standing on these sites realizing how old this city is. The structures and monuments are enormous and so very impressive. We are visiting this city during their busy season so there are lots of p...

We arrive back to Portland today. Just in time for Sophia's "Funny Farm" play. It was very special to be there for this evening. A beautiful area that we drove was Mt. Shasta. This is in north central California. They had snow the day before but today the roads were good and the mountain was beautiful.