Tuscany

The stars aligned this past October when:
1. Hugh and I both had meetings in Italy the same week.
2. We had the perfect babysitter staying with us (my mom).

Tuscany here we come!  Of course that much luck can never be on anyone's side and we had a bit of a delay to our trip.  A few days before we were to go, Brenna woke up with a mild fever and stayed home for the day.  Seemed routine at first and then her fever spiked to 104 VERY quickly.  So quickly that she became dehydrated and we had to rush her to the hospital.  She could not stay awake, had body pains, and was had no color to her.  It was extremely scary.  After taking her temperature and seeing that her entire throat was covered in sores (she never complained once!),  she was immediately given a strong dose of medication and admitted to the hospital so she could be put on IV-fluids and antibiotics.  Our first night in a hospital with a child (other than birth) and it was in Belgium!  I am thankful for the wonderful care she received.  She was as good as new by the next day.

So we headed off to Tuscany a little frazzled and with just two nights to spend before we went to our meetings. But of course I am not complaining, Brenna was well and we were in Tuscany.  We flew to Florence and did a few hours of sightseeing there before we headed to our home base in Siena.

Florence Square

Florence Cathedral

Here I am eating pizza on the run in front of the Cathedral.  I would go back just for the pizza (they actually had potato pizza - my dream food)

Florence is home to the famous David statue.  The original braved the elements for many years before it was moved to a museum.  This statue is a replica and the original is now in a museum where no pictures were allowed. 

We made it to Siena in time to have dinner on the Piazza Del Campo.

 View from our room

The next day we visited two other Tuscan hill towns.  Here we are wine testing in a unique bar in Volterra.  Yes those are bras hanging from the ceiling . . .

Posing along the town wall

Wandering the hilly streets

We also visited San Gimignano, a small medieval town famous for its towers.  It has been able to maintain 14 of its towers while many other towns have lost them due to wars, natural disasters, etc.

Top of the tower 

As they say all good things must come to an end, so off to work we both went and bid farewell at the Florence train station (sniff sniff).