The Florentine Versailles: the Boboli Gardens

Visitors to Florence usually go to the galleries and palazzos before anything else. There is so much amazing art to see, we want to study at the feet of the masters. There is astonishing classical architecture, spanning thousands of years. But often we forget that other man made accomplishment: the gardens.

inside out

This has been the craziest Spring season yet here in the East Coast. It seems like the weather has gotten as unpredictable as our current political state.

For starters we are in the middle of May people [!?!] and it is only now starting to warm up enough to finally shut off our heaters.

Since the last blizzard in March it seems like we have only had either wintry days or summer days but no spring days whatsoever. 

Florence, part 1: Florence at night!

wonder | wander | women were incredibly lucky and got to visit a dear family friend in Florence for a few days! We took so many pictures our camera ran out of space, so we have to document our trip in a few installments. Part 1 presents Florence at night, a side the daily crowds of tourists don't always see.

May Day celebrations

Engraved on the Haymarket Monument:

"THE DAY WILL COME WHEN OUR SILENCE WILL BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE VOICES YOU ARE THROTTLING TODAY."

Flowering Hawthorn, a symbol of May Day

May Day or workers day, pagan or anglicized, cultural or commercialized, historical or statutory - May 1 has symbolic significance for many. 

sticking to facts

President Barack Obama made his first public appearance since the end of his White House tenure on April 24, speaking at the University of Chicago on the subjects of fostering civic engagement and developing young leaders.

Watching him on stage - so natural and gracious - made us miss those glory days when he was our president and we were secure in our world no matter what we faced because this was the man who had our backs.