Where do I begin? Words can never put into perspective the amazing beauty of Italy, unless you've been there yourselves to experience it. Pictures do a nice job of telling a story, but even the best ones don't describe the pure awe of it. So, I'll try to describe for you what was the most wonderful place I've ever visited...We flew into Florence via Amsterdam, on December 20. It was a small, quaint little airport with taxis lined up all around, waiting to take us to our hotel. The hotel was all that I imagined, life size paintings, dark wood trim, bright green walls, marbled bathroom and the restaurant served the most wonderful food! Walking the narrow, cobbled stone streets we found cozy cafes, tasty pastas and pizza, beautiful plazas with people performing music and street artists creating mini masterpieces. Lots of motorbikes, bicycles and tiny smart cars too! The streets were lined with strings of Christmas lights and decorations... most streets were all different from each other... some with white lights, some with lanterns, some with blue and silver and some in traditional garlands and candles. Each one was amazing! We took tours of the Academia and Uffizi Galleries, where we found the original David, many other Michelangelo sculptures, and thousands of paintings, that overwhelmed us to say the least. The Birth of Venus, being one of the most famous, but again, we were overwhelmed with so much information and time does not allow for you to really embrace it all in a couple of hours. (so another trip should do it, I'm sure)
We took the train into Rome for a couple of days... very similar to Florence with more people, more streets, more places to visit and the Christmas spirit rising. There was Tiffany's, Gucci, Versace and every other high end shop imaginable. We stayed at a lovely hotel next to the famous Spanish Steps, toured the Vatican area seeing St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon (which were all breathtaking) and of course the Colosseum topped it all off! Again, words cannot describe it, you just need to see it for yourself!
So we finished with a few days back in Florence... the Baptistry, cathedrals, plazas, fountains, more sculptures and a nice walk up to the Michelangelo Piazzale, so we could look down over the entire city and just gaze!
We spent Christmas eve at the Opera House with a performance by the Sue Conway Victory Singers with full orchestra. This was a spectacular night of gospel/spiritual/Christmas music and we were blessed to have been able to be a part of it.
So we are back in Dubai now, relaxing, doing laundry, getting back to some sort of normal. We plan to celebrate New Years Eve tomorrow evening with dinner at a waterfront restaurant, fireworks on the water, then hopefully a nice view of the fireworks from the Burj Khalifa... from what we can tell from year's past, it's unbelievable! Google New Years at Burj Khalifa and you'll see what I mean.
We want to take a minute to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year... may 2012 be a year full of blessings in every way... Love you all- Blair, Kim and Grant
