Firenze

Well, we made it to Florence today via a train ride shared with a very nice Italian family. This city is unbelievable. Almost every street is one narrow lane, lined with wonderful pastry and coffee shops, nice restaurants with outdoor seating, and cool stores. And of course all of these things are in the shadows of ancient churches and statues carved by renaissance masters. The best thing is that there are almost no cars on the streets. Everyone just walks down the middle of the street and gets back on the sidewalk if a car does come.
Speaking of that, our biggest challenge will come Wednesday when we actually rent a car and drive through Tuscany and down the coast of Italy toward Naples and the Amalfi Coast. We have seen first hand how crazy the drivers are in Italy so who knows if we will live to tell the story.
Tomorrow we go to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, among other works. I realize I've left out a lot of things, including our trip to the Vatican where we climbed a bajillion steps to the top of St. Peter's cupola for a great view of Rome and a couple of blisters to boot, but it's getting late. It's off to bed now.
We just heard this morning about New Orleans and the Mississippi Coast and we've been thinking about it all day. I hope everthing is okay (relatively) and that everyone's families and friends are safe.

PS Happy late birthday to Suzi and to Jonathan Mattox...sorry we missed them!
PPS Shout out to Stacy!