The first day we drove through Switzerland and over the Gotthard pass, and made it as far as Bologna, where we stayed the night. We got up the next day and drove in to Florence. We saw the Duomo, went to the Mercato Nuovo, did some shopping (ties, gloves, scarves), got some panini for lunch, and walked around the downtown area and across the river on the Ponte Vecchio.
Florence's Duomo (above and below).
The floor inside the Duomo.
On the Ponte Vecchio.
We then drove on to Siena, where we had hotel rooms reserved for the night -- right in the downtown area. We walked around the city - saw the Duomo (the kids called it the zebra church, because inside everything is striped black and white stone - similar to the outside (below), the Piazza del Campo, and a few other things. Our hotel room windows had a nice view right out over the rooftops of the city, down and then up a hill toward the Duomo. That day was my birthday - so we celebrated with a few cards and gifts, and had some pastries we purchased at a few different bakeries around town.
Siena's Duomo - not to be confused with Florence's.
The Piazza del Campo (above and below).
View from the hotel room window.
The next day as we got back on the road, it started to snow. We figured we were heading south, though, so the snow should stop by the time we got to Rome. On the way, though, we stopped at a small place called Civita di Bagnoregio, which is up in the hills. Civita is a small city up on a hilltop, only accessible by a bridge. We would definitely like to come back and see some of these places in the spring.
