Jason and Carole’s trip to Florence and Pisa

Florence is proving to be one of those places that I seem to enjoy more each time I visit. Despite being full of tourists it manages to retain an amazing charm with so much history/culture while still feeling like a place where people actually live and work. Even though it was my third trip, so much still felt new. Not too surprising I guess given all of the sights it has to offer. Just wandering the streets a little bit away from the centre could provide a trip in and of itself. It was the first time my Mom had been so we visited the two major museums, and much like visiting the Met in NYC or Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi has such an overwhelming collection it is impossible to even begin to take it all in during a visit.

Add all of the great Italian food and wine, which we sampled in abundance, to the museums, churches and architecture and I have to put Florence near the top of my list of must see European cities. I will admit it is tough for me to pass judgement on great Italian cities having not yet been to Rome or Venice. However, I find it hard to imagine either could match Florence’s for its ability manage the crush of tourists without losing any of its quaintness and that great relaxed feel that makes visiting Italy so wonderful. I am eagerly awaiting my trip back with Jess in early July!

Oh yeah, we also visited Pisa, which somewhat to my surprise is well worth at least a day on any trip to the region as the city itself deserves exploring beyond just popping in to see the tower and amazing Duomo.

- Jason

A Northern Voyage

Over Memorial Day weekend (here, the 'second May bank holiday'), we went to Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland.  I completely acknowledge that this must make it seem like we've reached the end of normal things to do, but Estonia is not nearly as off the beaten path as it sounds.  In fact, Tallinn has risen to glory as a popular 'stag do' (bachelor party) destination in recent years, probably because it's relatively cheap compared to other European capitals, and it's easy to get to/from/around.


We spent most of our late May weekend bundled up against the chilly early-Spring weather, wandering the Tallinn old town and out off the tourist track into a pretty little park that also housed the KUMU, the modern art museum, where we spent a few hours.  We enjoyed some of the local brew and made 'friends' with one very drunk Finnish man, who wanted to know that we were welcome to his house if we ever found ourselves 2 hours north of Helsinki.

View of Tallinn from Oleviste church tower

Creepy room at the KUMU

We spent 2 days & 3 nights in Tallinn before taking a ferry - actually a retrofitted cruise ship that was pretty retro-feeling itself - to Helsinki for a one day / one night visit.  We enjoyed some local grub at the seaport before heading out to Suomenlinna island, an important part of Finland's defense against Russia.

On Suomenlinna Island

See the rest of our pictures here!