Welcome to Italy

Well we left Provence on the 5th of April and headed towards Italy.  Our plan was to make a pit stop in Asti and Pisa on our way to Florence.  We made it just fine and have even started to see some of the sites.  Here are some pictures:

Kate sitting out on our hotel balcony enjoying some wine in the Asti afternoon.

Here's the mountain range inbetween NW Italy and Pisa.  Andrew Holman, get over here and climb this stuff will ya?

Welcome to Pisa!  There are really only 3 things worth seeing in Pisa if you're just being a tacky tourist like us.  They are the Baptistry, Cathidral, and of course Pisa's leaning bell tower.  Here are all three.

While everyone else tries to hold up the tower, James tries to push it over!

Welcome to Florence!!!  We checked out the Domo right away.

Here's a picture of inside the church.

Here's a close up of just one section of a wall outside.  Lots of detail.

The inside of the dome.

After the domo we went to the Galileo Science Museum.  It was a very cool, not very crowded museum that went over a lot of the technology used/created for navigation, keeping time, and the beginnings of chemistry and engineering as we know it today.

Kate infront of an old star and solar chart.  Notice the earth is still the center of the universe.

A recreation of what Galileo used for his research.

Kate enjoying some globes that were created for Louis XIV.

Here's one of the first machine tools ever created.  It's a lathe.  This allowed replaceable parts to be made which ushered in the modern manufacturing process.

Italy is molto bella! There is blue sky and sunshine and great food. The city is full of tourists and there are venders everywhere. We are so happy to be here in Florence the capital of Europe. More pic's to come!