Family Sabbatical TravelItaly FriendsLucy We had arranged to meet the DeMillos and the McKeon/Williams in Firenze for the day so we got to the Stazione early to take this phone booth picture ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030001 before everyone arrived ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030002 ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030003 for the group photos which Caroline also took ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030004 Our group linked up in teams with Sarah and Cara ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030005 Jane and Lucy ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030006 Suzanne and Michael ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030007 Rich and Ronnie ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030008 Benjamin sitting on my shoes ( over the sight of the effects of fine Italian pasta ) ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030009 and the rest of me ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030010 and Lucy ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030011 with the Duomo in the background. We made a short stop at the Duomo to see the ceiling ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030012 which would later inspire us to walk above it. But first there was the issue of lunch.

Sarah and Benjamin ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030016 had the spaghetti pomodoro ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030015 and ravioli spinaci ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030014 respectively. I ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030021 had the pasta with porcini mushrooms ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030013 The others ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030017 ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030018 ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030019 ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030020 had varying portions of the ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030022 steak Florentine.

After lunch, we went to the market place ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030026 to see the pig ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030023 ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030024 and rub his nose ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030025 Next, we went to this hat store ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030027 where Rich bought this hat ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030028 which Sarah considers very fine. Cara bought a bandage at the Farmacia. This fit her elbow well ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030029 and made the DeMillo family ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030030 happy. Not to be outdone, Suzanne and Sarah bought this purse ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030031 with the helpful guidance of Cara.

Next, it was time to get our exercise. We found this line ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030032 and waited in it ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030033 while noticing how high the bell tower ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030034 is. Then, it was time to go in ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030035 and walk up to the first level ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030036 from which the ceiling seemed much closer ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030037 and then to the top from which the bell tower ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030038 didn't seem so high. Suzanne was happy to be at the top ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030039 as were Benjamin ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030040 and Sarah ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030041 We found our village (Villamagna) in the background ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030042 as we scanned the Tuscan hills ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030043 before it was time to start the trip back down ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030044

Once down, Sarah had to inspect the doors of the baptistery ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030045 to see if they looked like the doors to heaven. Suzanne, Rich and Ronnie ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030046 read that the real doors were elsewhere which explained why they didn't impress Sarah. But the duomo ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030047 remained exciting to us as we celebrated over gelato and granita limone ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030048

On our way out of town, we made our way to the stazione once more where Sarah and Benjamin ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030051 contemplated taking the train to Paris and we took the obligatory phone booth pictures ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030049 including this phone booth picture ../../../Sabbat/Pics/07.03.00Firenze//P7030050 where Sarah was actually talking to another person.