Observations on France:

On a different topic

In a break from politics, I know I promised photos from my recent trip to Italy. I don't have all the historical information I wanted to go with the photos, but I do have two pictures I can put up in the mean time.

I took a day trip to Siena. Many towns have large churches, but Siena built a cathedral that is almost identical to the one in Florence (Firenze as it's spelled here). They were rival cities, and the churches were important symbols of the importance of the city. This was the best view I could get of the church; my back was against the building across the square from the church. It's big:

Click on the photo for a larger image.

I went to Italy to attend the wedding of two close friends. We stayed in two villas in the Tuscan countryside, and the reception after the wedding was held on the lawn outside one of the villas. This is the sunset over the Tuscan countryside that I took at the beginning of the reception.

Again, click on the photo for a larger image.

More photos to come.