Tuscany 2009

Two weekends ago, Kevin gave a presentation at a conference in Italy. I tagged along. We stayed in Florence, where Kevin renewed his love for "el Duomo," the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.

In front of a nice view of Florence and its Duomo

View from Fiesole of Florence

From there we caught trains to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was my favorite. I'm a sucker for the Leaning Tower, even if getting the perfect cheesy shots in front of it took forever. But the city is beautiful and historic in its own right, complete with its own smaller duomo, and I would have spent more time there if I could.

Pisa! What a dream!

Lucca was probably Kevin's favorite. It is a small charming town with treasures down random streets. The town is supposed to have the best food in Tuscany, and we went to one of the best restaurants for dinner. Kevin got the delicious rabbit ravioli and I got the Tuscan yellow pasta with mushrooms (yellow from extra eggs). His dish was better, or at least, I always think it is.

In front of the walls of Lucca

On day three we missed getting into the Boboli Gardens and lost our guidebook, so on a whim, we hopped on a bus to Fiesole, the town that sits just above Florence. The town has an amazing night view of the city, and some pretty fantastic restaurants too.

We went to the impressive Uffizi gallery and Boboli Gardens (again) before leaving on the fourth day. More about our trip here: http://eralontravels.blogspot.com/search/label/Tuscany.

Florence, Italy 2009

In October, Kevin gave a presentation at a conference in Tuscany, and I tagged along. We stayed in Florence, where Kevin renewed his love for "el Duomo," the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We walked around a lot, and went to the impressive Uffizi gallery and Boboli Gardens (again) before leaving on the last day.

In front of a nice view of Florence and its Duomo

You can glimpse the Duomo everywhere on the streets of Florence

Close up to the facade

Boboli Gardens on our last day

Lucca, Italy 2009

Lucca was probably Kevin's favorite. It is a small charming town with treasures down random streets. The town is supposed to have the best food in Tuscany, and we went to one of the best restaurants for dinner. Kevin got the delicious rabbit ravioli and I got the Tuscan yellow pasta with mushrooms (yellow from extra eggs). His dish was better, or at least, I always think it is.

The city walls in Lucca

Beautiful buildings

Small plazas

The town at sunset

Dessert at Ristorante Giglio

Pisa, Italy 2009

From there we caught trains to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was my favorite. I'm a sucker for the Leaning Tower, even if getting the perfect cheesy shots in front of it took forever. But the city is beautiful and historic in its own right, complete with its own smaller duomo, and I would have spent more time there if I could.

In front of the Torre pendente di Pisa, a freestanding bell tower

Close-up of the tower and cherubs

The Duomo in the Cathedra Square (Piazza del Duomo)

Inside the Duomo

Florence, Italy 2009

Kevin gave a presentation at a conference in Tuscany, and I tagged along. We stayed in Florence, where Kevin renewed his love for "el Duomo," the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We walked around a lot and went to the impressive Uffizi gallery and Boboli Gardens (again) before leaving on the last day.

In front of a nice view of Florence and its Duomo

You can glimpse the Duomo everywhere on the streets of Florence

Close up to the facade

Boboli Gardens on our last day

New Camera 2009

I'm in love. 

Dad wrote me the following email, 10/9/09:

You took a picture of your new camera.

        I'm surprised you didn't rip a big honkin' hole in the universe,

           maybe if you took a picture of your new camera taking a picture of your old camera taking a picture of you new picture  taking....

               yea, that would do it. 

Things My Wife Complains About: #8 Loving Fake Football Players More Than Her

Most men aren't happy that the word "fantasy" now refers almost exclusively to men hurling themselves into other men, but that's the world we willingly created. I've chosen to embrace this world by creating a fantasy team so formidable it has yet to lose. My friends from college and I spend a not insignificant amount of time each week tinkering with our teams, proposing trades to each other, vetoing trades to each other, and writing newsletters about our teams' performances. So when I'm submitting an article to said newsletter late on a Monday night instead of, say, going to bed with my wife, she complains that I love my fake football players more than I love her. She couldn't be more wrong. The players aren't fake, just the entire world we've built around these them. Big, sad difference.

Possible Solutions!

1) Convince my wife to accept my vice as innocuous, social, and even educational, at least until I drive down to Delaware to place several teaser bets on teams my players are on in critical Week 15 match-ups.
2) Create a fantasy league for my wife based on "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" with points granted for tantrums, Kate emasculating her husband, children mugging for the camera, and Jon defending his dalliances with twenty-something women by claiming he's doing it for his children.
3) Watch a movie or something instead (hard).

Sarah and Lukas Engagement Party 2009

It's my theory that love caught like the swine flu at our wedding. Since we got married in June, Wednesday and Clark semi-eloped, and the following wedding guests got engaged: Aubree and Patrick, Cory and Robin, Jeff and Inga, and Sarah and Lukas. And at my most recent count there are three buns in ovens. It's been a good year for a lot of people we love. Congratulations all!

This weekend we went to Sarah and Lukas's awesome beer-themed engagement party held- where else- the Astoria Beer Garden. That place is awesome. And look how well their hair matches the balloons and umbrellas.