3 May, Pistoia

Have had a wonderful day. Luca, our tour director, and Tiziano, our driver, met us at the Florence airport and drove to Pistoia, a major Tuscan city that makes train engines and specializes in plant nurseries. After a filling lunch at the Hotel Cappugi, where we are staying for the next 3 nights, Bryant and I took a walk into the modern part of the town. At 5 pm our group of 15 (9 from the US, 4 from Australia, and we two Canucks) boarded our small bus and then did a walking tour of the Centra Storico, or historical center of Pistoia, which dates from Etruscan and Roman times, but is basically a Medieval walled town.

After about an hour of free time - read shopping- we met for a welcome dinner at Osteria, a prize winning restaurant. You will see the steak with mushroom and caper sauce below. This course was preceded by cheese and artichoke tart, risotto with cheese and asparagus, and spelt and white bean soup, and followed by a light and tasty tiramisu. All this accompanied by white and red wine, with espresso for those who tolerate caffeine at 9:30 pm.

Tomorrow we are off to Lucca at 9 am. All is BETTER than well!

In Florence

Met successfully in Rome yesterday, in Florence hotel last night. WiFi is iffy.....all is well.

Sent from my iPad.

We're Leaving' on a Jet Plane

About 31/2days to go before we leave for Italy. Here is my luggage for our three-week holiday. I'm learning to pack lighter with each trip. Aren't you impressed? In the red suitcase is my day pack and my telescoping cane, just in case, as well as clothes and all the other miscellaneous stuff one carries along on a trip.

First email post

Good morning!

Still trying to sort out posting methods to our blog. Please bear with me as I may have to do this several times.

Getting Ready

We are on the countdown to Italy - 19 days in Tuscany, Umbria, and Rome with friends.  I had planned to blog from Italy while travelling, but alas, the technology I had planned to use has failed, so I will resort to old-fashioned e-mail and post to the blog when we return in late May.

In the meantime, here are a few photos from our 2010 trip to whet your appetite.......

Penguins!

Here are some penguins at the Calgary zoo. I think they are enjoying their new high-class digs! We visited the zoo in February.

 

To Calgary Soon!

We'll be heading back to Calgary in mid-February for a couple of weeks to see family and a student friend in Edmonton.  Hope the good winter weather continues while we are there!