To describe Florence as beautiful is an understatement. I am staying at the Hotel Silla on the south side of the Arno River. Took a walk this morning and watched the sun rise over the river and took a stroll to the Santa Croce before leaving with the group. Beyond beauty, my next two impressions [...]

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Getting settled in at London Gatwick airport for a long layover before the final leg of my trip to Florence. Wireless Internet. Bluetooth headset. MacBook Pro 17″. Wiener or road warrior? Vote today. Flying in Europe may be cheap, but it takes three flights to make it to the airport in Florence. When we take [...]

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I intend to do a better job at taking before and after pictures of the work we are doing on the property. I have taken pictures of rooms in the house, but you don’t always think of picking up a camera before you clear away some blackberry brambles. The work is gratifying. It may be [...]

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Jean de Florette is an excellent film, though I was left angry and depressed at the very accurate portrait of the rural conniving in Provence. In fact, I was a bit alarmed at my reaction to the injustice in the film. The sequel or part two, Manon des Sources is on next Monday and I [...]

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Gabe and I have the house to ourselves this weekend. Libby: What do the guys get up to on their own? Camp fires, model building, world series, pulling legs off spiders… Justin: You forgot the best part … a really bad diet. The closest we’ll get to a vegetable is probably a pizza topping or [...]

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