Florence to Venice

We are on our way to Venice. The roads are long with gentle curves. Lots of bridges and tunnels to get over valleys and thru hills. We have front seats on the bus today.  The seating works on a rotation basis. We started at the back of the bus and today we have front seats! The views are amazing. We have left the rolling hills of Tuscany behind and are now in the larger hills/mountains. The bus makes regular stops for magic rooms (toilets) and a quick coffee/soda. We must be due for one soon. 

In Florence we went out one evening for dinner in a winery. Long tables outside with lots of wine, dessert wine and grappa. They had music so the kids were  dancing away. 

The same day we did a walking tour thru the historic centre of Florence. Our local expert explained the buildings and statues that we saw before we went to the michaelango museum to see David. Here she explained how David was carved. He used a piece of marble that had started to be used by someone else. This explains why his legs are in a relaxed position but his face shows he is concentrating on something. 

We did an evening tour out to San grimano (excuse spelling) a Tuscany hill top town. It had 100 towers in medieval times. There are only 10 standing now. The towers were used as lookouts for the enemies (it was a walled city) but the main use was the town did commerce in dyed fabrics and so needed the tower surfaces to dry the fabric. Otherwise it was far too many towers for a small town. 

We also had an included 'be my guest' lunch at a family olive farm. The views of the rolling tucan hills were to die for!