It has been crazy and a whirlwind trip so far. But on the 27th of June we left Firenze in a rented car for Montecantini Terme where a friend of my Mom’s lives. He took us to the little mountain vista town of Montecantini Alto and then we had dinner with his family at his house.

At the top of the path to Montecatini Alto is the 14th Station of the Cross. The pilgrims, each Good Friday make the climb from Montecatini Terme to Alto doing the stations along the way.
We stayed at the Grand Hotel & La Pace Spa in Montecantini Terme which was pretty neat. Great bed and shower.
The next day we drove over to Lucca and Pisa then down to Gaiole in Chianti where we stayed 3 days at the Castello di Spaltenna. From there we drove down to Siena for a day visit and over to Assisi on our way down to Rome.

Here I am in the horse cart doing a tour of all the famous squares, churches and points of interest in Lucca.

Inside the famouse Amphitheater of Lucca which is now a lively square but we were advised not to eat there since it is so touristy. It was once a colosseum and then centuries later they used the old materials to build the houses and apartments.
![This is the church of Santa Maria Forisportam which in latin means "outside the gate". It was built in the 12 century to a Romanesque plan. [My Dad is telling me all this].](https://fredericklillywhite.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/img_3394.jpg?w=300&h=300)
This is the church of Santa Maria Forisportam which in latin means “outside the gate”. It was built in the 12 century to a Romanesque plan. [My Dad is telling me all this].

This is the fountain in the Piazza St. Pietro with the church of San Giovanni E Reparata in the background.

Lucca is the birth home of Giacomo Puccini, the great composer of Opera. There is a museum in the square where his house is maintained.

The Church of St. Michele in Foro built by Pope Alexender II in 1070. It stands where in Roman times there was the city’s forum.
I don’t have a lot of time to post more information, so I will just post as many photos with captions that I can. Assisi will have to wait until I am back in the States.

This is the church connected to our hotel in Castello di Salptenna in Gaiole in Chianti. There was a wedding there the day we checked in.

Looking north down the main street in Gaiole in Chianti. That is the church we went to for Sunday Mass in the background.

In Gaiole they have installed about 20 modern sculptures all around the little village. This one is “The Cycloops”.
Then we have the beautiful city of Siena up on top of a mountain with all the pagentry of the middle ages.

We all bought Contrade or neighborhood scarves. Mine for the tortoise or Tortuca, my Mom the Pantera or Panther and my Dad the Giraffa or Giraffe.

Flag Waving is a big part of the Siena Palio. Here two guys are practicing their flag waving to the beat of a drummer you can’t see.

We parked in San Franceso then took the escalators, all five of them, up to Siena. I am wearing my contrade scarve for the Tortoise neighborhood.
This is Frederick and I am waiting to board my flight back to America. No place like it (except maybe Italy:)