Some of my last shots of Firenze
Juliane and I wnt out to eat at Piazza di Santo Spirito. I had only been there once and that was that morning. I found Firenze especially beautiful this evening but I don't think I will mis it. I just didn't warm up to the place. Strange, one of the most beautiful places in the world and it doesn't do it for me. Don't get me wrong. I don't regret coming here. It was good for four months and now it's time to move on...

Two waitors, Sabrina and Michael who I said hello to three times a day as they work in the restaurant right out our door. I will miss seeing them.

Ciao ciao!!

Under The Tuscan Sun

Juliane and really wanted to see where the movie "Under The Tuscan Sun" was shot so we did. We went to Cortona for the day and we loved it. We were both ready to move there. We had a lovely day, had wonderful food and the people were very friendly.

guess what mom, I'm getting married!

some shots I took long ago in Paris...

I watched this shocking documentary on the war in Iraq. It brought tears to my eyes several times. Look it up online and watch it.!

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)

"Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so."

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Dakota and Robert's Visit!

Cinque Terre. This is a group of five towns located on the cliffs above the water. We went to Monterosso, the fifth town on the coast and the only one with a proper beach.

What's going on?

It's been awhile since I've opened my blog. I'm basically on vacation now but you know who that goes- the more free time you have the lazier you get. Well, I have to tell you with some sadness and some joy we are leaving Florence. Now, the title of my blog is not true anymore. It's an incredible city and we have loved it for many reasons but when you have a chance like we do to live and study where we want, it's hard to stay in one place. Why do I feel sadness and joy at the same time. Let's see...
What makes me sad about leaving? Well...
1. We can walk everywhere. To school, it was ten minutes. To the gym it's ten minutes. To visit friends, it's five minutes. To the station it's fifteen minutes.
2. Our front yard. Santa Croce. I do love the piazza out our door. I love the light on the church in the evening and the Italians sitting in the steps until wee hours in the morning.
3.Hong Kong, my favorite Chinese restaurant here. I will miss all the Chinese servers I got to practice my Italian with.
5. The Russian/Italian/Kebob restaurant around the corner. I love the man running it. I miss his smiling face. He is always happy. Thank you for putting up with my bad Italian. He could always understand me.
6. I will miss Karla, Antoinella and Vittoria who taught me so well and enthusiastically at my school.
7. I will miss my classmates but they are leaving Florence too so...
8. I will miss the cheap trains to almost anywhere in Italy.
9. Being able to take out the garbage anytime 24-7.
10. Limone gelato.
11. The beautiful yellow of some of the buildings-especially in the sunlight.
12. MARTA
13. The servers at the restaurant outside our door. I talked to them at least once a day if not five times.

Things I won't necessarily miss:
1. The millions of tourists. Florence gets 8 million tourists a year.
2. The narrow streets where you have to dodge the other people, scooters, cars and buses that just barely fit. I don't know how many times the side mirror of the bus brushed my hair.
3. The grafitti that's everywhere.
4. The lack of trees anywhere in the historic center.
5. The fact that most of the people in our neighborhood going out at night were American young women. We heard more English than Italian.
6. The expensive restaurants.
7. Long lines in the supermarket.
8. The fact no one says thank you or sorry on the streets. How many times did I step out of the way so someone could get through. Never once was there a thank you. Oh, well, it's a cultural thing I guess.

Enough. I want my positive list to be longer than the negative one. All in all, I don't regret coming here. I've made good friends, learned a little language and have seen more than most people see in a life time. Now, off to more adventures in other countries. Where are we off to next. AMSTERDAM. Jonathan just found an apartment so we will be Dutch for a little while. I'm not so motivated to study Dutch as everyone speaks better English than the average American but I am excited to explore the country my grandfather started his life in. One of my goals is to visit his childhood home. We hope to visit some friends we met in Taize, France last April and I will start my Spanish study. What fun!!
See you all in Amsterdam.

A lady in a church in Pistoia

Shouldn't the US and many more countries follow Sweden's lead? Read on...


As of 2004 you can pay your Swedish taxes by sending an SMS message from your cell phone.

The government sends you a completely filled out tax form and if it looks good you just go online and click okay to pay your taxes.

Taxes are generally between 50 and 70% of your income. (Of course your employer already pays the full amount of your salary to the government in taxes before you even get anything.)

Companies must lay off employees in first-in-last-out order when they are downsizing.

You can take sick leave during your vacation if you are ill.

Parents get a total of 13 months of paid maternity leave and the father is required to take at least 1 month of it. (There has been a discussion about changing this to 15 months and requiring the father and mother to each take 5 and then split the last 5 as they feel appropriate.)

Parental leave can be used to take off time for parenting classes before your child is born.

Parents can save up their maternity leave for more than 5 years (i.e., use it for doctor's appointments, school visit days, etc.).

Daycare cost is based on your family income with a government imposed maximum. (Currently about 1/10th as much as in the U.S.!)

If you have a new child, your other children get a month of free daycare so you can concentrate on the new one.

All employees (including graduate students) get 5 weeks of paid vacation a year.

All employers (as of 2004) are required to provide free massage.

The transportation department of the Swedish government works actively to reduce the number of traffic deaths each year to zero. (Mainly by reducing the speed limits.)

Any product you purchase is guaranteed for 1 year, and the retailer must exchange it if it fails in that time. (This includes things like clothes and shoes.)

All non-military property that is not fenced in, or is not a farm or someone's personal garden is open to anyone for hiking through or camping for one night.

Swedish university students are required to pay a membership fee in the student union, but no tuition.

American textbooks are cheaper in Sweden than in the U.S..

In Sweden IKEA is a cheap store, not a trendy store. (And they are only open until 8pm on special days.)

Recycling is taken so seriously that one company (FTI) is trying to put up video cameras to make sure people sort their recyclables correctly. (June 2006)

Privacy is taken so seriously that putting up video cameras in laundry rooms to catch vandals is illegal.

Drawn by its liberal asylum rules and generous social benefits, 18,559 Iraqis sought refuge here in 2007 alone – far more than in any other Western country.

Sweden

My last trip to Sweden was 18 years ago and it has been 28 years since I was an exchange student there. Almost 30 years-unbelievable. We left Firenze at around 4 pm to catch our Ryanair flight from the Pisa airport. Ryanair is amazingly cheap. Our round trip ticket to Sweden from Italy was about $150 a person. We ended up staying longer so we paid more than this but it was still very cheap. The flight is very basic. If you want food, you pay for it. If you want priority seating, you pay extra. There are no assigned seats so it's first come first serve. We lucked out because Jonathan was on crutches so they blocked two seats for us so we didn't have to wait in the line. Well, we did in Italy but not in Sweden or course. Our flight left at 8:30 and we arrived at an airport I had never heard of 80 minutes from Stockholm. We didn't get to our hotel until well after one. You get what you pay for!

We had to take a taxi to our hotel as it was too late for the tunnelbana (subway). Our hotel was perfectly located taking just minutes to get downtown. The rooms were very simple and small and we shared a shower with the entire floor which didn't mean much because I hardly saw anyone take a shower. Swedes don't shower much as I remember. We had a very decent breakfast. The people running the hotel were all very sweet and I miss them all already.

On the way to the tunnelbana station from our hotel we always passed this wonderful candy shop. I had never seen so many sweets in one place before. Jonathan has a major muscle strain so we bought stampella (crutches) to see if that would help. He is slowly getting better.

Our first stop was gamla stan (the old town). This is one of my favorite parts of town. Full of shops and restaurants. We woke up to a beautiful blue sky the first day in Sweden and that never changed for an entire week. This is very unusal for Sweden. It had been raining a lot all summer and the day we left we had a downpour. We really lucked out.
Splashing water at Jonathan.

It was Europride and Stockholm pride the entire week we were there so there were rainbow flags EVERYWHERE. Even on the buses. One city in Europe hosts Europride every year.

I always loved the color of this church in the King's garden.

Having a salmon open faced sandwich in the King's park. It was so good!!

After I finished my meal a leaf landed right on my plate so I took a picture.

Only in Sweden do you see half naked men walking the streets of the capital city. When it's sunny and warm, Swedes take advantage of it.

...and Jonathan did too!!

...as did lots of people.

Ok, I take strange pictures!

Taking a little break at the Grand Hotel. Writing a post card home.

Beautiful Stockholm!!

Now you see it...

...now you don't. It's the same picture. (the magic of photoshop!)

Stranvagen. A street which was copied after the streets of Paris.




Me on Djurgarden. We are about to visit the Wasa Musuem.




The Wasa ship that sailed a total of 20 minutes before it sank in the Stockholm harbor. They found the ship about 50 years ago in excellent condition as it was buried in mud.

There were people there in period costumes!



A wonderful ad on the platform of the subway station. It says
"Stockholm celebrates the use of condoms"


A restuarant in gamla stan. It was just getting dark and it was 10:15.

A bee in Djurgarden

Some of my favorite paintings that I remember from 28 years ago at the National Museum.

Dad, I lit a candle for you at the Cathedral in Uppsala.

Jonathan got to experience the real Sweden. Skinny dipping in Stockholm! Yes, it really is in the city but it's a very secluded place surrounded by rocks and trees.

On the train to Uppsala. It's a university city about and hour north of Stockholm.

My friend Olof Eden who was in my high school class 28 years ago! He said I hadn't changed at all. Yea, right!

We caught up over wine at his apartment in St. Eriksplan. It was great seeing him and hearing all the news.