Kiss Me Kate

Today as we walked to the Pitti Palace in Florence we strolled across the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. I could not help but hum a song from the musical "Kiss Me Kate".  Petruchio sings to Kate after he marries the shrew..."Where is the Life that Late I Led?"  I am recalling the words he sings....... "And in Firenze (Florence) where are you Alice? Still there in your pretty, itty-bitty Pitti Palace.....Where is Rebecca, my Becki-weki-o, Again she is cruising that amusing Ponte Vecchio". So funny! First of all, the Pitti Palace is more than two football fields long,made of heavy stones and is set on a hill. (Not exactly an itty -bitty palace) and I wouldn't exactly call the Ponte Vecchio amusing. This bridge has spanned the Arno river since Roman times and is lined with gold and silver shops. Cole Porter had a real sense of humor!

Florence is touristy but we enjoy viewing all the incredible artistic masterpieces. So much so, that we decided to extend our stay here. That means we will have to skip Provence this trip which was not an easy decision. We love our Lucchesi Hotel near the Santa Croche Cathedral. Tonight we plan to spend the evening at the Plaza Michelangelo which promises a good view of the city. Tomorrow we fly to Paris. We have mixed feelings about not taking the train through Tuscany but it is a ten to fifteen hour trip to Paris so we will take a two hour flight as we are simply running out of travel time.  Next time Provence and Tuscany.