Florence in November 2011 (Part one)

shop windows were stunning and everything is white this year-Prada window

more white

popsicles in a chocolate shop

church of santo spirito on a calm day

one never tires of looking at the arno and the ponte vecchio

st francis being given the stimata at La Verna, having just been at La Verna this summer   this was a nice coincidence

joining in Elizabeth's eating part of the trip we had some yummy pumpkin soup for lunch one day near the market area of San Lorenzo

clever louis vuitton window

one of the gorgeous windows of Ferragamo, another is above, the shoe window. Orchards and Ferragamo scarves, such luxury

and we had to buy some shoes. Great shop, good prices and fun designs. We were happy- much happier than going to the shoe store in Todi!

had the pleasure of spending a few days in Florence in early November. Great time to go, as tourists were few and I really enjoyed seeing some of the smaller museums I had never had the chance to see, as one is usually rushing to the accademia, the uffizi, bargello etc.  The eating was another added pleasure, enjoying all new restaurants with Elizabeth the author of the great app "Eat Florence". Lots of fun.

Thanksgiving holidays 2011

Ashley's first turkey about to be devoured!

clean-up crew working before we all hit the couch to watch football

old college friends and a must stop every trip!

georgetown university with fall colors

georgetown university

gorgeous red maples were so pretty

baltimore inner harbor on a summer like day in the fall, warm and crystal clear

gorgeous stained glass ceiling in baltimore train station built in Sept 1911

train station ceiling. The station just celebrated its 100 year anniversary in September. This beautiful ceiling was painted black during World War II because of the threat of bombing. hard to imagine

more gorgeous weather in D.C.

Had a very fast but fun trip 'home' for Thanksgiving. Was too short but very enjoyable and I  was very thankful I could make the trip. 

work at via napoli-home sweet (?) home.

 Since we returned from Australia in June our building has been encased in scaffolding as the exterior brick and stone work is being cleaned. It is noisy, dirty, endless and the worst has just taken place: the workers are now IN our house. Unfortunately (for us right now) we have many balconies with lots of stone and marble columns whose backsides have to be cleaned. The only way to get to them is from inside our house. We have lost use of our terrace since May, and shortly we will lose use of our kitchen, hopefully for a short time. It is not fun.

sand from the sandblasting on our terrace in sept

more dirt/sand

way too much sand from the blasting on our dining room terrace. workers would just leave this sand until we made a lot of noise about cleaning up. Every step of the way has been a struggle.

every balcony ( and we have 3) plus terrace looks like this, dreadful! This dirt/sand is what will now start entering into our house.

our living room, chandelier covered up, furniture moved out in half of room,  and the rest of the room blocked off with sheeting

dining room, area to left has been constructed so the workers can work inside the house, cleaning the back of the columns and stonework on the balcony

another balcony (my former clothesline), encased in scaffolding 

our building, we have the second floor

side of building where our kitchen faces

front of building