February 2008- Pisa, Florence, & Switzerland- Part I

Last February we were preparing for Justin to deploy. He was set to go around April, and we knew that once he got back there wouldn't be much time before we would be moving back home. If there was anywhere we wanted to be sure and see before we left Europe, the thought went, we'd better do it then.

Topping my list was Italy, but because we wanted to bring Chokydar, that limited us to driving, and I couldn't see covering all that I wanted to in the amount of time we had, so we narrowed our focus to Pisa and Florence. We borrowed the Blythes' GPS (a life saver!) and drove down through Switzerland into Italy. Our home base was to be in Pisa and then we planned to take the train into Florence. I'd heard that driving in Florence is a nightmare, and I've had enough experience driving in European cities to believe it--and want to avoid it at any cost.

Our first night in Pisa we walked from our hotel down to the baptistry and bell tower. Chokydar was glad to be out of the car. She's such a good little traveler...

Oddly enough, Italy felt almost like home, at least my college home--New Jersey. The women looked like they were direct transplants with Jersey leather and sunglasses intact. Now I know Jersey got it from Italy, but it felt like a bit of home all the same. Including this guy...

Choky is a well traveled pooch.

The sunset that night was really stunning.

The next day we set out for Florence first thing in the morning on the train. Again, just like Jersey, see?

This is his I can't believe you've hauled me to Italy face. He gets grumpy when I make him leave the house, but always is glad we did so...well, most of the time. We'll get to that in a few posts with a little story about our adventures in Switzerland...