All roads lead to Rome! We spent the first half of the day in Florence. Laszlo lead our group into the museum where we saw the famous David sculpture. There were others cultures from Michelangelo in there as well including what he called the “prisoners”. Michelangelo, as a sculptor, said that the figures that he sculpted not his work, that they were in the marble already and just wanting to get out. The series called the “Prisoners” were work that were either unfinished or that Michelangelo stopped because he didn’t like the looks.  After that museum, we went to the Florence Cathedral with its tricolor marble. There we saw the “Gates of Paradise”. These ornate doors lead to the baptismal of the cathedral. The scenes depicted Genesis and other stories with in the Bible. Much of the religious art was used to teach the commoners about the Bible stories. We learned that this baptismal was still used today. The three buildings, the Cathedral, the baptismal, and the belltower were made of three different marbles. Each color, white, green and red. They are said to represent faith, hope, and charity (and also the Holy Trinity). Chris wanted to see in open air market so the four of us left the tour early and set off for it. We were told that the prices would be good and that bartering was encouraged. We found the market place and there were stands and booths galore, selling everything from food stuffs to clothing to other goods. We looked into the stands Teresa found a sweater that she really liked. Well she never verbally said anything about really liking it but she picked it up and turn it over and then asked the vendor if it was available in a different color and size. The vendor reached under a table and found what she was looking for and gave it to Teresa. She then said “40,000 Lira”. Teresa turn it over her hands and without saying a word, the shopkeeper said “OK, 30,000 lira “. Again Teresa didn’t say anything and the shopkeeper lowered the price even more. Teresa looked at the sweater again reached in her pocket and in the end paid about $8 for a very nice sweater. Chad found a leather works booth which had a full size duffel bag, all leather and finely tooled. We figure the price to be around $450 US. That was a little bit more than what Chad had wanted to spend. When we got back to the US, I looked it up and a bag like that would’ve cost about 900 USD. We bought a few more trinkets and then headed back to the meeting place. It was a nice walk down some narrow streets. This is what I pictured Europe to be like. We were also in good company. Onward to Rome. We drove into Rome in the late afternoon. we were put up in a nice hotel (with a tub this time). I think I’m starting to feel a little ill with some sinus problems. I guess I caught Teresa‘s cold. Tonight, we took a swim with Chris and Chad, then we went with our tour group to see Rome at night. It was stunning to see the ruins all a glow. After the driving tour, we went to Mario’s for dinner. Not only did they feed as well but we drink well too. There were eight of us at our table at least 12 cans of beer, six bottles of red, six bottles of white, and seven or eight bottles of champagne. They just kept coming. When one bottle would empty, the staff would bring out a whole suite of alcohol. This happened throughout the five courses at dinner. Needless to say, we left feeling pretty good.