I think most folks know how much I love Italy.

These are some pictures from visiting Francesco and Beatrice in Florence. They were wonderful hosts and I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. I had a lot of oppertunities to practice my italian. While I am still very bad I did feel like there was hope for me yet. We were also joined by Stephy and Paul from England. Good Times!

Started off at GiGi's, my favorite place to eat in Florence. My friends Bea and Francesco. Did you know in Italy the wife almost never takes the husbands name? I learned this the hard way.

Bea and Me! Once again, we met initially on the HLWW board and got together in Leeds, and have been friends since.

Francesco and Me! We have a pact, in 1 year, he will speak very good english and I will speak very good italian. Bea works way too hard translating for us.

Great statue in the plaza Republica.

The problem was that it kept leaving and moving elsewhere.

On Saturday we (Paul Stephy and myself) were treated to a day in the mountains at the family's summer house. What a fantastic place.

It was so beautiful, especially when the rain mocved into the valley.

Francesco and Paul enjoying the view, and the beer. I think beer is always better with a really nice view.

How lucky were we that we had a chance to visit this?

But wait !! They also cooked for us. Now how Lucky are we?

Poor Beatrice and Francesco, slaving away fetching us wine and making us food. It really was a fantastic meal. I still want the recipe for that bread stuff, it was completely wierd but very good.Especially I think when the weather is chilly and rainy.

This was very odd to me, they grill in the fireplace. Have ya'll ever heard ogf that, I mean after the invention of the Webber grill? Bet I could grill in my fireplace. I might try that. Probably have to get it swept more often if you cook in it.

Here is that rain I mentioned earlier.

So me and the girls sat down and watched us some highlander, in italian. oh and riffled thru the scrap book I brought and the stuff that Bea had collected over the years.

While the men folk did the dishes. I like the way things work out in Italy.

Of course , sadly....Bea was so exhausted from all her hard work....we had to keep waking her up.

Nuther shot of the rain coming in, I just loved it here.

In adition to it being Adrian Paul's birthday that weekend, it was Stephy's!!! Happy Birthday to you.....

Stephy's husband Paul treated us all to a terrific meal.

I need to add the name of the place later, I have no notes with me. But it is a favorite of Bea and Francesco.

In Europe and especially I think in Itally you should always consider your lip color carefully....cause you will leave it on everyone you greet.as Bea pointed out it adds a whole new meaning to the phrase'you have your mother's smile'.

There are some terrific walks and gardens around Florence. It is part of what I love there. This is a view from the plazza de Micheal Angelo. The plazza intself is not all that but the view from there is outstanding.

This is a pretty good walk up a hill, some ramps , some steps. You get a real nice look at the city from here. There also was ajapenise wedding going on while I was here. That was very cool to see. While I felt ok watching, it was a public place...I did not think it was ok to take pictures.

oh yeah, the big statue, it is not 'the David' but it is quite a large David.

This is the plazza de Republica, the carosell made it very easy to get home at night.

yup it's still there, still beautiful.

One of the things I love about Florence is that there is a surprise sround every corner. There is a musician or a piece of art or some cool market. You just never know.

There were a lot more tourists this time of year.

I love this, can you spot the fake? If you are working on a building's facade, cover it up so you don't ruin everyone's vacation photos. Just hang a big picture of what the building looks like over where you are working. How cool is that?

wow, this is my best night shot AND my worst night shot. Some people were tall enough to shoot over the spot light.