Yes, it leans...

I'm impressed with this group of travelers. Of the 44 on the trip 39 signed up to go to the Uffizi. We put all the luggage for those kids in my room to be loaded on to the while we were gone and booked it for our 8:15 a.m. appointment at the museum. Most of the kids took the full 1.5 hours we had in the museum. We then hustled back to the hotel where Katie, Kalani, Mark and Brett had loaded all out bags and we were ready to leave Florence.

We made a detour to Pisa and saw the Field of Miracles with its impressive baptistry, cathedral and of course the tower. The town is pretty touristy and I was glad to get on our way.

Next we headed to Como and the beautiful lake there. It had been a long day on the bus and we still had a way to go so we were happy when our driver Arturo was willing to make a photo stop. We were impressed by the lake in the midst of steep mountains and the funicular across the way. The real disappointment was that George Clooney was no where to be seen.

Our hotel was way up in the mountains outside of Como. It took about an additional hour to get there. The road was narrow and very windey so we got nervous a few times. The worst part was when there were cars coming the opposite direction. Our driver is very skilled and we made it safe and sound.

The hotel is a grand old lady. You can see that it was a posh place in its day but you can't beat the views and it was pretty comfortable. After dinner some of the boys went out to the yard and played soccer. A good way to burn of excess energy after a day of sitting.