Our last stop in Italy (and our last train ride) ended in Genoa. We were there for less than 24 hours so we didn't do much before flying to Bordeaux. When we arrived at the train station we knew our hotel was near. After walking about 50 yards, we asked a local person if he knew where our hotel was. He pointed over my left shoulder and in another 50 feet we were there! The Grand Hotel turned out to be indeed "grand". A several hundred-year-old building, it had ...

On September 26, we had breakfast and checked out of Maison de Charm. We took the train, with one transfer, to Monterosso. We took a taxi to the charming Da Vice Bed & Breakfast. We managed to get our bags up the many steps to our room but luckily the owner Fabio was very helpful and it was a comfortable place to stay (the room was decorated with Fabio's beautiful artwork). Fortunately, we didn't want to watch TV because as you can see from the photo, the T...

After a long wait for the "no show" driver, we finally got a taxi to the train station where we boarded the train for Lucca. We arrived in Lucca and waited for a taxi in the rain. We arrived at our lovely hotel, Maison de Charme, another perfect location inside the Medieval walls of Lucca. We explored Lucca and finally settled for dinner at L' Oste Di Lucca. In the morning, we had a lovely breakfast in our hotel before heading to Torre Guinigi where we tested...

Our last days in Florence were beautiful and memorable. Friday we walked to Piazzale Michelangelo for a fantastic view of Florence and some exercise. In the evening, Fred and Nancy arrived at our apartment. We walked to dinner at Olio e Conviivium, the same restaurant where we had our cooking class on Wednesday. After a wonderful three hour meal, we walked back to our apartment for wine on our balcony. On Saturday, the four of us toured the Chianti wine reg...

Florence, Italy We arrived in Florence via Air Berlin on 9/17 and after a little wait we were picked up by Simone and delivered to our 5th floor apartment. It is a spacious apartment in a great location and a huge balcony with a river view. We had a delicious dinner across the street and went grocery shopping at the neighborhood market. On Monday we set out to see the city. We spent the day browsing the squares, visiting the famous Brunelleschi's Duomo a...