Florence, Italy

We are in Florence for a couple nights. This afternoon i am going on a tour around the centre of the town and to the uffiti art gallery (not sure on spelling). The tour is a walking tour.

Two nights ago we went to an Opera (Carmen) in Verona in their Roman ampitheater. it was pretty amazing, it seats 22,000. the set changes were very impressive. we had cheap seats so could see behind the curtain when they were doing all their changes! the place was pretty full, i think it is the only roman ampitheatre that is still used. not sure what was going on in the opera but it seemed good. unfortunately it rained a few times and as soon as it started raining the orchastra had to disapear inside as they couldnt get their instruments wet. on the third time this happened they cancelled it it was only about 20 mins to the end as well. it was a late night as a normal show finished at 1am and them went until after 2am.

Simons ironman went well. he was on schedule for a great time with the bike and swim but struggled with the run in the heat. Simons parents were there and we spend the day trying to work out where he was. Klagenfurt was a nice city with a very pretty lake.

After klagenfurt we were in Venice, which was great. we had a really nice hotel and in a great location which meant we could just wonder around the streets. it was very pretty. they havent got much space though before the whole place floods. we brought an engagement ring in Venice. it is white gold with three diamonds. Simon wanted something bigger but i think it is just right. unfortunately my fingers must of been swollen in venice from the heat and all the walking as now it is a little big. i will wait until i am home though before i resize it as i think they will change again. i am wearing it at the moment but most of the time on a bigger finder rather than the correct one. i also brought some leather gloves and a bag in venice.

tomorrow we are going to the amalfi coast and will hopefully go swimming in the sea, it is a five hour drive and we are hoping to stop in pompeii on the way.

the car is going really well, we couldnt manage without the GPS which has been great. Florence is not a car friendly city though so we are leaving it in the parking garage until we leave tomorrow.