Trip to Italy, 2007

Click on any of the little pictures to see it at normal size. Click on the '=0=' after the picture to see it in giant size (about 2 minutes to download on dialup connection and larger than screen size). This could be useful if you wanted to really look at one part of the picture or to make a print.

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It was nice wandering around Florence. There were lots of very nice statues and such throughout the city ceneter There was a nice garden area and a cool fort (shown below). However, at the gates there were guards who let normal traffic through (the fort seemed to be full of commercial shops) but stopped people who looked like tourists (my camera gave me away, but it may have also been my clothes and body language, looking around and such).	=0=
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In Florence they were repairing some of the cathedrals and other large buildings. Above is the front of a cathedral that was being restored with scaffolding then cover with nylon tarps. Also above is the arch at the center of the traffic circle in the Piazza del Liberta which was just a few blocks from our hotel. That evening we decided to go on the tour at a nice Italian restaurant. It was pretty pricey, but it is not like we visit Florence everyday. The restaurant was up on a hill in a pretty area just outside Florence. The owner took the orders and was quite a character (shown below with Jay).	=0=
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Above is a picture of Nikki at the restaurant. There was a couple on our tour who were going to be married in Venice the day after our tour ended. They are also shown above. After dinner we took the bus back down to Florence and there was a nice scenic spot over Florence. It was night when we returned and the city was very pretty, but my camera didn't catch that very well. On our second day in Florence we were on our own and walked to the center of the city. On the way we visited a few banks looking for one that could change money for Nikki (hoping to get better rates). Their banks had entry doors which were a little like air locks. Only one or two people could fit into the space between the doors and only one of the doors would open at a time. I also presume that they were to foil bank robbers and would be completely sealed if there was a problem (at least until the police arrived). THose are shown below.	=0=
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