Firenze (Florence)

First off, I want to take time to say on CNN this morning they reported the Texas Rangers are going to the WORLD SERIES!!!  OMG!! Go Rangers!!!
Some people have had trouble entering comments. So I have changed the design, if you have a Google account you can make comments. In other words if you've ever had Picasa, or used a Google page you have an account and can log in.  A Google account is free; anyway maybe you can comment easier now.  I'm just trying to cut down on any Spam.
Barbara and I have decided we love Firenze. It is an easy city to walk around in, no real need for public transportation. We have encountered many many nationalities in our travels. In the South of Italy, people from the U.K:, inlcuding Australia, abounded. Despite what some people think, Calabria is a big tourist area. The are 2 coastlines on the Ionian Sea and the Tyrrheanian Sea,  BIG beach resort areas. In the summer a lot of people go into the mountains where my family is from to hike.  The farther north we get the more Germans, Dutch, Middle Easterners, and Asians we see. Yesterday on our trip we made acqauintance with a young woman who was traveling with her mother. They were from Singapore. They had visited London, where her sister is working and had come over to see Italy.  We began the day going to San Gimignano (Jim-in-yan-o); it is the most well preserved midieval city in Italy. It  was once known as the city of 100 towers, now there are only 14 left. The city gained it's wealth from travelers going to Rome, but in the 17 or 1800's the black plague hit and wiped out the town. Now it is on the come-back as a tourist spot. It is lovely and quaint  and VERY clean with panoramic views of the Tuscan hillsides. There were two art galleries there with beautiful art for sale, seemed to be a "artist" type place. We the went to Siena for two hours UP hills, down hills and back UP hills; reminded me a bit of being at the University of Texas campus again.  Honestly we think San Gimignano is much prettier and nicer than Siena and the two Chinese ladies agreed. We had a sampler lunch at a restaurant, pesto pasta, pizza with tomato & rucola, sandwich bites. salames and cheese, and sweets. Let me remind you that Barbara being smarter than I, still is wearing her tennis shoes, while I after getting awful blisters almost the first day with my "walking" shoes have been wearing my sandles with socks to walk every day. I think I will have them bronzed when I get home.
 After Siena, we went to Sant' Appiano, in the Chianti area of Tuscany, to a winery where we tasted 4 different chianti. Did you know the wine is named after the hills? They are the Chianti Hills.  Decisions, decisions, should I buy wine here or wait and buy it at Jimmy's in Dallas?  Jimmy's won, didn't want to carry those bottles to 2 more cities before home! Also met a young man and his wife from New Jersey whose family has 7 stores there, wants us to get our Italian meat and cheese from him, doesn't sell wine yet!
We got back to Firenze at 7 pm and I had been fighting off a sore throat and cough all day so we ate a quick bite and I went straight to bed. Today we went to a laundry to wash clothes (no Internet at that one) then back to the room, Barbara walked over to Ponte Vecchio while I stayed in bed. I will NOT be sick!
Tomorrow we go to Venice. It's hard to  believe we have been here 2 and a half weeks and have only 8 days to go. Ciao---