hello all,

we are in florence at the moment, having a fab time. it is lovely, so many things to do and see, not enough time. we went on a train to pisa this morning to see the leaning tower and took many amusing pictures of us trying to push it over and hold it up. tigger also came out to see the tower, he was very impressed! came back into florence this afternoon and went to the duomo - emily persuaded rebecca to go to the top of the tower - it was a little scary but a worthwhile experience with fantastic views over the city and into the hills beyond. got one more day in florence and then off to rome - how exciting. we love italy so far and wish we had loads of money to buy clothes, handbags, shoes and jewelry from shops. treated ourselves to gelato icecream this afternoon - double chocolate - yummy! hope to sample lots more flavours before we leave italy and pizza. youth hostel is fab, it is located outside the city on the hills with spectacular views. think it used to belong to the nobility of italy but has now been turned into a youth hostel - feel like we are staying in a hotel rather than a hostel. hope everyone is well back home, missing you all lots. love rebecca and emily xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx