Varenna and Florence

Since leaving Venice, we have been in two extraordinary places. Varenna, on Lake Como in the Italian Alps, was incredibly beautiful. On the day we arrived, the next day and the day we left, the weather was gorgeous and we could see the snow capped mountains towering back behind the lake. The border with Switzerland was in those mountains and we could imagine the smugglers, war refugees and others stealing through the mountain passes to go from one country to the other. Our hotel was perfectly placed to give us wonderful views of the lake; we even had a small balcony! We could watch the ferries go back and forth across the lake to the cities of Menaggio and Bellagio.
On our first full day there, we took the ferry. It was a great chance to get out onto the lake and get the perspective from there. The boat went first to Menaggio and we just stayed on. Then it went to Bellagio where we got off and had lunch at a dockside restaurant. How lucky we were with the weather! The next day it was cloudy and there were rain showers and the day after that, it poured all day. We found walks to take and things to do though!
Last Saturday we moved on to Florence. Once again we used the Italian train ("tren") system and did fine! Using Rick Steves' book for reference, we had booked a 2 star hotel for its location. It does leave some things to be desired, but the location is unbeatable! If we walk 2 blocks to the left, we are in from of the Duomo (cathedral). If we walk 3 blocks to the right, we are at the Piazza Signoria, a major plaza with amazing sculptures and the Ufizzi gallery. Of course there are restaurants and shops everywhere. We are amazed by the numbers of people who are here! Of course, it is spring break and there are high school/college tour groups everywhere. Also many families seem to have chosen Florence as a vacation spot. Today we met a family from the Ballard area of Seattle!
There are many fantastic sights here; lots of museums, churches, sculptures. Michaelangelo's "David" has to be one of our favorites. So imposing and breathtaking in person! This city was the birthplace of the Renaissance and it throbs with evidence of that everywhere you look. There are two main collections that most tourists want to see. Rick Steves suggests booking tickets ahead of time and seeing if your hotel will do it for you. We did request that and they came through for us. So instead of waiting in several long lines (buying tickets, waiting for admission etc), we just showed up 15 minutes before our entry time and got in pretty fast. A great way to do it! The food here has been delicious. I've only allowed myself one gelato treat, but pasta, wine and bread are part of every dinner.
Tomorrow we leave for Lucca and our apartment that we have rented for two weeks. We will be glad to stop for a while, although we want to visit Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano and hopefully Assisi. Again we will use the train system tomorrow and probably for several of the other trips. I will write again from there.
Here are some photos. From the top: Jon and I with Florence as the background; the bridges of Florence, including the Ponte Vecchio; a nice Danish couple we met today over lunch; a heartrending wooden sculpture of Mary Magadelene at the Academia; a piece of St. Francis' robe; the front of the Duomo; gelato - yum!; looking across Lake Como from our balcony; the mountains behind Lake Como in one direction; and lastly, the lake and mountains facing in another direction.