Cortona, Italy - October 19, 2014, Sunday

Fog over Valdichiana

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here at Villa Santa Maria.   Fog is resting on the Valdichiana, but will soon burn off making for a beautiful day here in Tuscany.  

Breakfast at the Villa

We met for breakfast at 8:15 to start the day.  Stephan (our driver) picked us up at 9:00 and we were off to Florence for a walking tour of the city.  

David Stands Proudly in the Background

Our guide, Gianna, made sure we visited the hot spots beginning with the Firenze Museum, home of Michael Angelo's most famous sculpture, "David."  

Michael Angelo's "David"

We wanted to visit David early before the crowds arrived, but there is never a time when David isn't surrounded by gawking women and wishful men.  

Admiring "David"

Of course we had to carefully study Michael Angelo's work.  Conclusion ... David puts to rest the myth about men with large hands and feet.  Just sayin.  

After committing to memory all of David's features, we moved on to Ponte Vecchio, ("Old Bridge"), 


a Medieval stone enclosed bridge
over the Arno River in Florence noted for having shops built along it.  

Stevie, Mary Ann, Julie, Jean-Marie and Jan visit the Ponte Vecchio.

Initially occupied by butchers, the present tenants are jewelers thus earning the nickname "Bridge of Gold." 

We didn't buy any gold, but we found an incredible new gadget ... the "selfie stick."  The stick extends to 36 inches and has a clamp on the end to hold an iPhone, which can be held out for the perfect selfie.  I bought one for each of the girls.  We had so much fun with it, we decided to buy another 32 of them for all of our friends, grandkids and family.

Negotiating and counting the "Selfie Sticks"

We negotiated with a Nigerian guy who walked away several times, until finally agreeing to sell to us for $5.00 each.  Asking price was $20.00.  Poor guy's kids will probably go hungry tonight.  But we got our "Selfie Sticks", which, by the way is NOT the proper name for the gadget, rather our name for it.   

On the way to lunch, Stevie found another "can't live without" item.  She had chef's hats embroidered for each of us to be worn later in the week for our cooking class.  

Monogrammed Chef Hats for Cooking Class

You'll definitely want to check in later in the week for photos of us sporting our personalized hats.

Taking Selfies at the lunch table.

Dozens of "selfies" later, we found a comfortable spot for lunch at L'Incontro Ristorante on the sidewalk of the Savoy Hotel.  Great food, great location for people watching and great break.  

In the Van on the way to Outlet Shopping

Cheap Seats in the Back of the Van

After a bit more shopping, we headed for the Outlet Mall which was on the way back to the house.  Filled with most of the world's top designers, such as Gucci, Prada, Pucci, Fendi, Monclear and many more, we scattered for a while to allow everyone time to shop for their treasures.  I guess we must have been very serious about the shopping because we didn't take a single photo at the Outlet Mall.  

Cocktails at Villa Santa Maria

After a day of sightseeing and shopping, we decided to head home for another gourmet dinner of Parmesan Soufflé, bacon wrapped figs and bacon wrapped cheese followed by pork infused pasta, salad and the lightest chocolate cake EVER with homemade orange marmalade.  The marmalade would be incredible with everything from meats to deserts.  Sliced oranges, a pinch of sugar and rum ... yum, yum.

Jan's Coffee Table Book Amazes Mary Ann.  

So now, we're sitting around the dinner table studying Jan's book about David and comparing stories from today and days gone by.  I haven't laughed so much in ages.  Laughter is wonderfully therapeutic and when one can laugh with such special friends ... well, that's priceless.  How lucky am I???  Thank you girls!

Dinner at Villa Santa Maria.