Your photos!

[jeffmac]

BEAUTIFUL! What is the building?

[dougmon]

BEAUTIFUL! What is the building?

Not sure if you're asking me, but I'll assume

The building is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. Usually it's just called the Duomo. Our hotel was right near there, so I had lots of opportunities to photograph it. The photo really doesn't show the quality of the tile work; it's just awe-inspiring...but I pretty much felt that way about a lot of Italian churches.

[misterN]

[jeffmac]

Not sure if you're asking me, but I'll assume

The building is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. Usually it's just called the Duomo. Our hotel was right near there, so I had lots of opportunities to photograph it. The photo really doesn't show the quality of the tile work; it's just awe-inspiring...but I pretty much felt that way about a lot of Italian churches.

THanks Doug! I am going to be in Florence in about 3 weeks and that is definitely going on the must see list! I will probably only have a day there so I am having to be bit surgical.

Very open to suggestions!

[Badger]

THanks Doug! I am going to be in Florence in about 3 weeks and that is definitely going on the must see list! I will probably only have a day there so I am having to be bit surgical.

Very open to suggestions!

The Duomo is a can't miss. Literally: it's huge, so I'm not sure it's possible to walk around the Florence city center without running into it. Right near the Piazza del Duomo is Cafe Gilli, home to many delicious pastries and drinks. It's expensive since it's got great views (the salon, too, is magnificent) but you can get a fairly normally-priced coffee and pastry at the bar.

I'll also put in a plug for the smaller but exquisite Basilica di Santa Croce:



(Note that here, the rose window was being restored. My mad iPhone skillz are not to blame for the big black hole in the facade.) It's only about 5 min by foot from the Duomo, and TONS of famous people are buried there. Like Michelangelo. And Galileo. Also, did you know you can buy advance tickets to most of the museums and attractions in Italy? Doing this lets you skip the lines. Oh, finally: Mercato Centrale is one of the biggest markets in Europe; you can buy loads of good snacks there.

Man, I wish I was going to Florence in 3 weeks. Have fun, Jeff!

[Flinx]

From our hotel room in Hvar Town on the island of Hvar in Croatia last September.

[Flinx]

My sweet Mama, about a week before we had to let her go a couple of years ago.
Still hurts.

[123veo]

I was in Croatia and Hvar a few years ago - stunningly beautiful country. Thanks for the pic, it brings me right back. Hope to return ext year - with my Aeronaut!

[SusanM]

Our dog died last year. She'll be a hard act to follow, but we're getting another one in a month or two. You will be the first to receive an "announcement."

Susan

[dougmon]

THanks Doug! I am going to be in Florence in about 3 weeks and that is definitely going on the must see list! I will probably only have a day there so I am having to be bit surgical.

Very open to suggestions!

The only thing I can suggest is that if you go see the Duomo, make sure to go down into the crypt if you can. If you're at all interested in history, it's pretty cool.

Also, I thought that of all the places I went in Italy, Florence had about the best gelato.

[autolycus]

THanks Doug! I am going to be in Florence in about 3 weeks and that is definitely going on the must see list! I will probably only have a day there so I am having to be bit surgical.

Very open to suggestions!

You should check out one of the handmade marble paper shops, if at all possible. My wife and I visited two on the Pitti side of the river: Giulio Giannini e Figlio and Il Torchio. GGeF (too much to type twice correctly!) had a nicer variety of basic stock, but Il Torchio's prices were better for journals, albums, etc. Here is Fodor's listing of shops.

Also, if you're walking to that side of the river, you might as well stop at Madova for some very lovely leather gloves that are priced quite reasonably. They OEM for a number of major labels and have a huge selection of materials, styles, colors, and linings. I got some black gloves with a very cozy cashmere lining to wear with a suit or overcoat on the coldest of days.

[Badger]

You should check out one of the handmade marble paper shops, if at all possible. My wife and I visited two on the Pitti side of the river: Giulio Giannini e Figlio and Il Torchio. GGeF (too much to type twice correctly!) had a nicer variety of basic stock, but Il Torchio's prices were better for journals, albums, etc. Here is Fodor's listing of shops.

Also, if you're walking to that side of the river, you might as well stop at Madova for some very lovely leather gloves that are priced quite reasonably. They OEM for a number of major labels and have a huge selection of materials, styles, colors, and linings. I got some black gloves with a very cozy cashmere lining to wear with a suit or overcoat on the coldest of days.

Near the Pitti Palace/Boboli Garden area is a neighborhood called Santo Spirito (it's if you turn right off the Ponte Vecchio rather than heading left for Pitti). There's a great trattoria there called 4 Leoni. We went there for Christmas Day dinner and they were serving this really good pici, which is a pasta local to Tuscany, with sausage and fennel. It was killer. We also had fried rabbit, which was very nice. The house wine was very drinkable and if you go for lunch, it might be warm enough now to eat outside.

Sometimes I think all we did when we were in Italy was go out to dinner. No, wait--occasionally we went out to lunch, or drinks. But mostly it was dinner.

[nukediver]

My new TB goodies (Synapse, Large Cafe Bag, Travel Tray, Passport Pouch,some pouches and other doodads; many are gifts) arrived today as I was just getting home. In one of the orders, I had asked for a shark picture, since I love these graceful animals, and lo and behold there it was! Thanks to Eliam and the whole TB crew for putting a smile on my face at the end of a long day! Even one of my cats seemed pleased - Olivia seems to be saying "I will protect you from this fearsome fish!"

[leviathan]

From my beach mini-pre-honeymoon after I got married last month:






And a few rom my Alaskan adventure back in January








Alaska is crazy.

[Katy]

Wow! Those pictures from Alaska are just beautiful!