On Tue, Oct 3, 2017 at 8:43 AM, garrett a....wrote:

Hi Pete -

You have become a serious user of drone technology (drone-er, drone-ite?). Enjoy your cutting-edge, free and relatively unregulated (unless you decide to buzz the White House like that poor guy a year or two ago) skies. Soon enough commercial drones will take up your air space and take precedence.

I write you from Siena, Italy, having first been to Croatia, then Santa Margherita de Ligure, Vernazza, Pisa and Florence, Italy. Final stop prior to returning home to Woodstock on Oct. 10 is Rome for 5 days. Italy still does it for me - the natural beauty, arts, food, culture and people are a delight.

Do not let the leaves start turning prior to my return, please.

Garrett

On Tue, Oct 3, 2017 at 10:54 PM, Peter... wrote:

Isn't Florence like no where else in the world?
I loved it!

Date: Wed, Oct 4, 2017 at 3:35 AM
Subject: Re: Hi Pete
To: Peter...

I agree. Florentines value beauty in all its forms - natural, sculptural, artistic, architectural, et al. - more than any other place I have experienced. Every year some visitors are so overwhelmed that they need to be hospitalized from cultural exhaustion. A spontaneous highlight during my 6-night stay this time occurred during a random walk down a narrow, cobbled lane near Ft. Belvedere (subsequently I learned it is Ave. Michelangelo). Looking right, steps just beyond a small, narrow streetside arch appeared. Ignorant but curious, up I went. They led to the small gift shop and entrance to the Bardini Museum and Gardens. It was late in the day and the gatekeeper noticed my dismay when I read the expensive admission fee. She said, "I will let you in for free to the Gardens but not the Museum." SOLD!

The Bardini Gardens were initially established around the 14th Century but fell into disarray and were only revitalized (spectacularly!) about twelve years ago. They are contiguous to the Pitti Palace's Boboli Gardens but are only about fifteen-twenty acres. Rose pergola; wisteria pergola; terraced miniature fruit trees; numerous varieties of hydrangea and flowering bushes; centuries-old sculptures; and a four-foot wide, one foot deep waterway undulating through much of it between green lawns: all of this and more flows downhill from a stupendous cloistered viewing area on high from which all of Florence says hello.

It would have knocked my socks off even if I had known the Bardini was there and planned the visit. But the spontaneity! I ended up going back two more times. WHEN (not IF, Pete) you revisit Florence, and assuming you are not yet acquainted with the Bardini, I cannot more strongly recommend it.

Garrett