via Grand Circle Tours
October 28th–November 14th, 2014
  • Entrance to piazza by Quartiere Coppedè. Our tour-guide, Guido, led us onto this site, right near our hotel.
      • Grue, a fancy pastry & gelato shop.
          • We walked to the Villa Borghese estate from our Hotel.
            • Rome parking!
            • Our gang, just before we head out for Tuscany.
            • Very snappy bus!
            • Our intrepid travelers
            • This car blocked our bus. The driver had to turn the bus around and back out of the blind alley—quite a challenge.
            • Finally on our way out of Rome.
            • Guido Ochner, our host for the trip.
            • Our hotel while we were in Tuscany.
            • At L’Assassino Ristaurante—our first dinner in Tuscany
                      • Radicofani
                      • The church in Radicofani with Della Robbia artwork.
                      • Altarpiece done in Della Robbia
                        • More Della Robbia
                              • Tower at the top of the hill. We tried to climb there, but stopped at the cemetery.
                              • Radicofani Cemetery—prepared for All Saints Day and All Souls Day. We got this far up the hill.
                              • On the way to the Fattoria Pianporcino
                              • The super friendly cheesemaker at Fattoria Pianporcino…
                              • …and the different aged and flavored Pecorino cheeses made from sheep’s milk.
                              • Sheep—the source of the milk for the Pecorino.
                              • Lunch
                                  • Dinner in a country restaurant—Palazzo Bandino. All farm grown ingredients.
                                  • Florence and the Duomo.
                                  • Ponte Vecchio in the center.
                                  • Ginny and Roger
                                  • Ferrari brought a couple of cars to show off at Piazza Michelangelo—the Florence parking lot.
                                  • Our tour guide in Florence—an American expatriate.
                                  • The duomo of Firenze—like a giant birthday cake.
                                  • And this was in November. There are 3 times as many people here in the summer.
                                  • How Brunelleschi build the dome.
                                  • Ghiberti Doors on the Baptistry
                                  • Ghiberti, himself