Florence Venice Rome Siena Italy

Umbria, Tuscany, Siena, Assisi, Venice, Florence and Rome
	Fresh off an overnight flight from a variety of locations in the US we were touring Rome with just the sleep we managed to get in the air. We started by getting on one of the double decker 'hop on - hop off' tour buses. Our first stop was at the Colosseum where I snapped this picture of the Arch of Constantine.

	The day seems like a blur now but the photos indicate we stopped at the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and more.
After a day in Rome and a 2 hour car ride to Umbria we were ready to relax in our home away from home, Castle Visentium. The house was huge and fantastic. The pool was just what the kids needed to get away from the heat. The authentic Italian kitchen was as charming as it was functional (once we figured out all the appliances).


	The house even came with resident pets. To the left is the formal dining room. We never used it.

	We did make use of the pool. You don't find much air conditioning in Italy and the pool was relief from heat.
Visentium has a library full of very interesting books and an Italian billiard table. The game is is very different. Apparently, the Italians are much more skilled at pool than we, as the table is very long and has very small pockets. The kids played ping pong in the yard almost every evening.

The view from the front lawn of Visentium was lake Trasimeno. Between us and the lake is a small olive grove.
	Although there were only 10 of us the house could easily accommodate 15 or more people. There are two large living areas, indoor and outdoor dining and more bedrooms than I was able to count accurately. We spent all of out second day at the house. Every one was up and about before 10am.
On our third day we headed to Florence. We were there in less than 90 minutes but spent another 45 minutes locating and parking in a garage. Driving in Florence can be challenging. Florence is one of my favorite cities in the world. As crowded as it may seem some days the population is less than 500,000. You can walk from one end of the city to another.

	Above to the left is the Doumo. Directly above are the Ponte Vicchio shops hanging off the side of the bridge over the Arno River. To the left is Laura with a golden street mime outside the Uffizi. For the record my favorite 5 cities in the world are: 1) Austin, Texas 2) Florence, Italy 3) New York 4) Mexico City 5) Las Vegas - Sometimes you just have to forget about culture and have some fun.
	After Florence everyone took a day of R&R, slept in and wandered about the Italian countryside close to our new home in Umbria. The very next day we were off to Venice. It was too far to drive (4+ hours each way) so we rented a pair of Senecas at the Perugia airstrip and flew direct into the heart of Venice. We landed on a short grass strip just 50 minutes after we took off. A short walk and a ferry ride later, we were in Saint Mark's Square.
Have no doubt, Venice is a popular destination. It can be VERY crowded. Even the canals get busy as you can see in the photo below. There was a Gondola Traffic Jam at every intersection. Below and to the right is the Venice Air Strip from above. This field is used for private planes only. Don't worry, it's not where you 747 is going to land :) It wouldn't be a trip to Venice wouldn't be complete without a Gondola ride.




After a day in Venice we spent another day relaxing in Umbria with a short trip to Assisi. This is a great little town and worth a trip if you get the chance.

	And for our last full day in Italy we went to Siena. The climb to the top of the tower in Piazza Del Campo is worth it.

Rick Culleton - Austin, Texas	Copyright Culletons.com 2008
www.Culletons.com