Ready for Spring



Spring is just coming to Florence and life is taking us outdoors again.





These days, we spend time outdoors in Florence parks and special Boboli gardens.



We listen to music,

eat, and read outdoors.

For Sophia and Josephine, spring here means dancing on pointe shoes for the first time and celebrating birthdays....

...including their own, for the 12th time!

In Florence, Sophia and Josephine celebrated their birthday with cherry blossoms on the dinner table

a phone call from Uncle Matt.

They jumped in the amusement park along the Arno,

                               and made wishes at a special spot, The Rivoire Cafe, in the Piazza della Signoria.

With new, birthday scooters and cool, Italian shirts,

Sophia and Josephine are definately...

ready for springtime in Florence.

Faces in Florence

Florence is full of faces.

 


 We see faces wherever we go.


 

We see faces of the past and of the future.

Faces of war,




 faces in love.



                               
                    
                and faces full of affection.

 

 

 
We see animated faces and

 

  

edible faces.



 

 

Sunny faces and


 

silly faces.






Gold faces and

 

stone faces.

 



 

 

Faces that knock,




stare and


 

smell.



We see fountain faces,

chalk and chocolate faces.



Faces in grottos,



and gardens,



 

and faces in a crowd.

Lucky us, to not just see the faces but be the faces in Florence this year!



                  





 

Bologna

Bologna is home to Europe's first university and Italy's top medical school, a headquarters for many student organizations, political diversity and gourmet cuisine.

This Fontana di Nettuno has become the symbol of Bologna. We loved Neptune, and the water spouting from his cherubs, dolphins and sirens below!

Unlike most towns we have visitted in and around Tuscany, Bologna doesn't feature major museums or spots for sight-seers. Rather than a destination for tourists, Bologna's historic center buzzes with local, Italian life.
  


 









Here, among beautiful, sienna-colored buildings and architectural designs,

















we found ourselves in the middle of the action.



The largest Saturday market we've seen in Italy is in Bologna. It extends over 4 city blocks.


 
In front of the Basilica di San Petronio, we watched a children's soccer tournament,

                                      and youth running races.

We tasted Italy's incomparable sausage, mortadella (no boloney!)

 

we heard a fantastic brass, band and watched the characters wheel by.

We found the flying arches of the basilica duplicated here in this loggia,

where Sophia popped another tooth, her fourth since September!

And we couldn't find a better spot to enjoy the sights,
sounds, and tastes of Bologna than right here...

 

at "Bar Guiseppe" (Joe's Bar!)