Christmas in Italy

Hello and Happy Holidays to all!

We picked up our 2 rental cars and left Florence (a city not too dear to any of our hearts) by way of a scenic highway. Florence was neat for the major sites, but the apartment we ended up with was not great. It was very large but had many issues. The most discouraging one being that the on demand hot water heater kept going into hibernation mode or something crazy, because it would transition from warm to very COLD water in the middle of showers. It was also connected somehow to the heat throughout the apartment because that too would go out for hours on end. We were happy to get out of the large city environment of Florence and travel throughout the hill country near Siena. Both Josh and I got a 24 hour bug (potentially food poisoning) in Florence, which made the experience that much more unappealing. Everywhere throughout Florence the water is very chlorinated which makes everything smell awful. We also accidentally bought bleach instead of washer detergent and so we had a few pieces of clothes ruined (the worst being Josh's brand new button-down shirt). So suffice it to say, we were happy to leave!

We arrived in a rainy Siena yesterday afternoon with a nauseous Josh, who immediately crashed in our room and slept the rest of the day. It hasn't been super warm throughout our trip. Mostly its remained in the 40s and at night dips down into the high 20s. We have been in a few towns in the Tuscany area where the temperature has reached into the 50s.

We are now both feeling better, so we are able to enjoy the beauty of the landscapes that surround us. We spent Christmas driving throughout the country-side, exploring small hill towns and geocaching. We thought often of our family and hope all is well with everyone. Tomorrow we plan to visit Siena's center again to see it when it is dry and warmer.

Love to all.