Part II Coming up.... 1 month in France and another in Eastern Europe: The Villa in Tuscany

I have tried to get these into some sort of order but not sure how well I succeeded. Above are the guys being grumpy Old Men.. pity they were looking at another camera

Coraleen and Kristine after a few drinks... Sexy night attire Coraleen :-)

Kristine in the 'diving' competition after a few gins..I think she did a bloody good job..I wont show you the others as there is so much water coming from the pool you can't see who they are

Trevor 'relaxing' after a few pitchers of G & T's

Barry and Tevor following the emptying of two bottles of Lemoncello

The first night at the Villa and to Kristine's surprise some home truths came to light via a few well organised posters!! How did you get that picture???

Kristine and Sharon.. Now where am I? says Sharon as she finishes her first bottle of gin after a 25 hour flight
'It's not fair...David didn't have to compete with sausages!!' cries Bruce

The group shot

mmm .. it must be wine o'clock ... again ...

Day out in Florence and Barry decided he would have a gelato.. that was before he realised it was Euro10! That's right folks NZ$20 for an icecream!! but look at the size of it!

Me on the bus tour of Florence with the city in all it's glory in the background

This view is taken from the small Parco della Rimembranza on Via di San Francesco, public gardens with benches, shady trees and a superb panorama. The statue in the park is a 1960s (which I didn't get a picture of) monument to the Carabiniere by the sculptor Marcello Guasti.

and another one of Florence

oops! another one too

Me on the Ponte Vecchio looking down the river and did you know...

Traders first opened for business on the Ponte in the 12th century. Tax exemption allegedly playing a large part in the demand for premisses here. The bridge was monopolised by food stores for centuries until, in the 1500s, Ferdinando I de' Medici had Giorgio Vasari construct a corridor along the top of the bridge. This is now called the Vasariano Corridor and is technically part of the Uffizi Gallery. Although now closed to the public it was on top of the bridge to link the Palazzo Vecchio with his home, the Pitti Palace. The story goes that he could not stand the smell of the butchers emanating from below and promptly expelled all such businesses, along with all the other establishments deemed lower-class, from the bridge.

Forty-one goldsmiths and eight jewellers took their places. Both are still the prominent trades on the walkway today and are well worth a look even if you do not intend to buy. The display windows practically glow from the wealth of gilded produce on show. Watches, necklaces, bracelets, rings, medals and chalices are all on prominent display along the length of the bridge. Other items on sale include precious stones, pure silk neckties, scarves and leather gloves. It looks expensive, and it is, but after all this is top of the range "Made in Firenze" merchandise. The dealers' heritage is acknowledged by the presence of a bust of the city's most renowned goldsmith, Benvenuto Cellini, who counted painter, sculptor and solider amongst his other vocations. The railings that surround the monument have long been used for a local romantic tradition that involves clamping a padlock to a rail and throwing the key into the river, symbolising an eternal bond. These mass lockings have not enamoured the local authorities, however, and anyone caught affixing something to the bridge is now saddled with a 50 Euro fine!

Even more spectacular than the storefronts are the views of the river Arno, which of course, can be enjoyed for free. The next bridge downriver, the Ponte di Santa Trinita, is worth a good look from both afar and in person. Designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati (supposedly working from sketches by Michelangelo) in 1567, it was destroyed by the retreating German army in 1944, and meticulously reconstructed after the war. Its corners are surmounted by four statues which were recreated from parts retrieved from the riverbed. Each figure was sculpted by a separate master of the Florentine school to commemorate the marriage of Cosimo II and Maria Maddalena of Austria in 1608.Interestingly, the only bridge of the four in Florence at the time, German forces did not raze during World War II was the Ponte Vecchio. Allegedly this was because of an express order by Hitler. This surprising act of clemency means that the bridge is now not only the oldest segmental arch bridge extant in Florence, but also in Europe.

Pisa day out .. see no hands.. actually didn't quite line it up right.. you try it, it ain't as easy as everyone makes it look

Barry up in the cloisters in the Church at Pisa

Me outside the Church at Pisa

another pic I couldn't resist. Most people have pushchairs for children but the Italians have gone one better and this little number was called a DoggyCart

Barry and Rauly by the belltower at the small village of Bracciano near the Villa. You can see the pully for the bells in the background.. boy was that tempting!!

Another one of the villages nearby.. Castelnuova... although not quite so small ... with the castle all lit up in the background..

This sign caught my eye..as they do! In the middle of the carpark about 50 feet above the river! OMG!! if the water rises this much I would hate to be here when they hydraulics went wrong.

Another one of those nights.. a meal and a few drinks and I get a kiss from a local lad. Note the sign in the background.. it was a fun night

oops .. out of sequence again.. Bracciano village in the sunshine

The view of our villa from Bracciano.. its out of focus as it was actually miles away across the valley

A view down over the valley from the villa early morning.. we were so high the clouds were below us although some of that is smoke from the village of Gallicano below