| April 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We start our last full day in Florence by going back to the Palazzo Pitti to tour the adjacent Boboli Gardens. The gardens are an incredible example of stylized Renaissance gardening. It consists of box hedges clipped into symmetrical patterns leading to wilder groves of holly and cypress tress. Statues of varying styles and periods are dotted around as well as vistas of Florence from the hillside. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| After, we toured the Palazzo Vecchio and its museum. The "Old Palace" was completed in 1322 and is still used as its town hall. Notable in the art collection here is the statue Victory by Michelangelo. For our last dinner in Italy, Anthony insisted that we return to the local trattoria that we enjoyed our first night. This time we sampled the local specialty - a HUGE slab of grilled steak that all of us shared. For a little guy Jeff sure can put away the food! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| April 10 | April 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We get up early, pack up our stuff (including all our shopping spoils) and head to the train station and our 4 separate trains back to Nice, France. We're getting better navigating the trains. We've mastered the local technique of shoving your way through the masses using your luggage as a ram! After a late afternoon arrival back in Nice, we all head out again to the plazas, shops and bistros to absorb as much as possible before we leave the next day for home. | We're up early again and off to the airport. With a brief layover in Amsterdam we find ourselves exhausted but home to our very excited children. Even with having no sleep for the last 26 hours, it was a joy to see our 2 most priceless treasures! Of course after the excitement started to wear off, TJ immediately asked "Where's my surprises?" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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