Today Florence was on the agenda. It's about an hour drive from Radda. We managed to find parking where we wouldn't get ticketed (unlike in 2007) and walked into the centre of Florence. After seeing the copy of Michalangelo's David in the Piazza, seeing the original in the Accademia delle Arte was definitely the highlight. The Duomo (see pic) was pretty spectacular too, inside and out. Took the scenic route back to Radda. Finally figured out how the gas pump syst...

We started our day with a great breakfast on our hotel's outdoor terrace (see pic). Then it was off for a full day of sightseeing at several interesting towns nearby that still have their medieval character intact: Cantalina, San Gimignano, and Volterra. All were crawling with tourists (mostly Germans) but interesting nonetheless. Also stopped at a couple of wineries but didn't do any tastings. We thought 5 Euros for tasting a bit much and aren't planning to bri...

Today we disembarked from the Noordam. The new "expedited disembarkation" process worked well. If you don't mind "schlepping" your own luggage (which we didn't) you just walk off when your ready. Got our car rental and set the TomTom for Radda in Chianti, about 3 hours north. Made one stop in Perugia and had lunch there, near the central Piazza of the old city. Arrived safely in Radda and checked in at the Pallazo San Niccolo, the same hotel we stayed at three ye...

Back in Italy today, in a town called Trapani on the north east tip of Sicily. We just wandered around the town for a while. Typical narrow streets and very old buildings. No time to do much else as the ship left port at 3:00. A very tight harbor, so it made for some interesting maneuvering on the sail away. Last night on the Noordam!

Today we were in Tunisia, North Africa. Yes, that's a camel in the picture! We took a bus tour and visited historic Carthage, mainly the ruins of a Roman bath. We also visited a small town nearby, where the locals were hawking their junk. Jim bought an Arabic head thing, so he can now pass for a real Arab. Having spent time in the middle east, he speaks it a bit. Overall, we weren't too impressed with Tunisia.