It's been an eventful week of travel for us, but in a completely different way than many of you back home! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We love you and miss you all! We are so thankful to have your support, encouragement, and prayers while we're away!
Okay, back to our week. It started off with our usual field trip, and this time we decided to stay close to home and check out Devil's Bridge in the nearby town of Borga a Mozzana. A very cute little town only 20 min away by train. There were several churches, a stream winding it's way through town under buildings, roads, and between homes, as well as some well hidden feline creatures.
A walk of about a half a mile from our train stop brought us to the bridge. The bridge is known as 'Devil's Bridge' because of a legend: a brick layer began to build the bridge, but soon he realized that he would not be able to finish it in time, so he asked the devil for help. The devil accepted, swapping his construction with the builder's soul. The bridge was finished, but the brick layer felt so guilty that he confessed everything to a priest, who suggested to him to make a pig cross the bridge first. The devil was defeated and vanished in the Serchio river water.
At home, the kids each created their own interpretation of the bridge. One in colored pencil, the other in paint. Both equally creative. Notice how Ashley put herself on the top of the bridge, and how Arya added cars driving down the road. Makes my heart happy.
Now on to Siena! We were so blessed to have our friends, the Sells, here this week. This was a 20th wedding anniversary trip for them, planned long before we told them about our plans for a sabbatical, so all the sweeter to have them here during our American Thanksgiving week! I am so thankful for the hugs, laughter, and joy they brought with them!
We met up for an afternoon in Siena, starting at the Torre del Mangia. Yes, the tower of food! This is a great spot to look out at rooftops and countryside. I just can't get enough of these views.
These crazy kids just getting started. It's good to have companions when
your parents are dragging you around to see really old stuff :-)
My new favorite photo.
After walking around the Piazza del Campo, we meandered up through the ston steps of this pedestrian center to the Siena Cathedral (the Duomo). Built in the 13th century, the church, full of stunning works by Donatello, Michelangelo, Pisano, & Bernini, is still in great shape. My favorite details were the striped interior walls & columns, the ceiling in the library (unrestored), and the mosaic flooring.
So much more could be told about that and our other outing with the Sells to check out the famous leaning tower in Pisa, not to mention bringing them to our apartment as our first official guests and getting to show them around Lucca. However, I would like to get this posted for everyone to see before leaving tomorrow morning for our next big trip: Germany and Austria! More about that upon our return. For now, I leave you with a few shots from Pisa including a view from the top, a look down the spiral steps of the tower, Ashley (and her amazing hair style) in front of the baptistry in Pisa, and of course the girls fighting over control for the tower itself.
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