Menrva

another favorite god for the Etruscans was Menrva

Hercules

while here in Italy me and Daisy have become fascinated with the Etruscan civilization and have been reading a lot about it

the Etruscan's were a group of people living in Italy arond the time of the Romans. In fact, the romans were very influenced by them, who in turn were very influenced by the Greeks

one of the fascinating things about them is that they treated their women as equals, and many of their tombs show a husband and wife together

most of what we know about them comes from their tombs, because after the romans conquered them, they wiped out most of their culture and rebult over them

Hercules what a favorite of the Etruscans. They elaborated on many of his stories and added to them

Apéritif

we have gotten in the habit of having an Apéritif before dinner

I like Campari and soda Daisy is more of a fan of the Aperol Spritz

Great Caesar's Ghost!!!

Rainy day

after 1 too many rainy cold days, no internet and bad Italian tv, we have a bad case of cabin fever

bbq in the rain

rain can't stop me from grilling

especially when i have a fold-out awning covering me

Cascini market lunch

Cascini market is a large open air market held every tuesday morning in Cascini park

it is a great place to find cheap clothes and other cool stuff

after we are done shopping we like to stop at this one lunch truck and have lunch

they have hamburgers and hotdogs, but they are Italian style, eaten on a toasted panini roll with lots of antipasta on it like mushrooms and artichoke hearts.

Also, even if you ask for a piccolo (a little), they will put lots of mayo and ketchup on as well

with a birra (beer) or a coke and some patate frites (french fries), which are also covered in mayo and ketchup, it makes for a yummy lunch

Train lag

Train lag is what you get after a 12 hour over night train ride

Daisy and the cute hat

my darling wife as we eat lunch at the musee d'orsay

Cute old french man and dog

I saw this cute little old man while I was having breakfast he was talkign to a dog that looked like a caterpiller

"Halloween is not very French"

These are some sketches I did while sitting at a cafe Halloween night in Paris. Although "Halloween is not very French," which we kept hearing repeated to us, we had quite a good time.

Marie Antoinette

Going to the Louvre and being in Paris has brought out Daisy's fascination with Marie Antoinette (again!)

Paris, je t'aime

Paris- could there be a more romantic city in the world to go to on your honeymoon?

Café Culture

After visiting Barcelona, we continued on to Paris.

I have to say, I love the cafe culture in France, sitting at a table for hours, being a voyeur and watching the people walk by.

Palace of Catalan Music lamp

We visited the Palace of Catalan Music in Barcelona, which also has amazing architecture. They were sold out for tours that day, so we had a nice tapas lunch in their cafe, did some sketching, and got tickets for the next day.

Pastry Envy

Our friend Romeo recommended a pastry shop and cafe for us to check out for breakfast. I got what is now referred to as the "magic donut," which looked like a pregnant croissant, covered in sugar and filled with amazing.

Daisy was a little jealous...

where's Tom?

While in Barcelona, we met up with Daisy's parents, who were traveling to a conference in Seville. We had some time to check out some of the sites, including the Sagrada Familia, which is amazing, and my drawing doesn't near do it enough justice.

We also lost Daisy's dad at some point.

Tapa Lunch

Our first day in Barcelona, we had an awesome lunch of Tapas.

I like the one with the olives and the anchovies.

Star Kebab

Here in Firenze when i need a quick cheap lunch, i like to get a Döner kebab

it is kinda like a Turkish burrito

Eating well

one of the best parts about being in Italy for 3 months is the food

just the food at the market is so much better then back at home

me and daisy have been having a lot of fun getting food every day and planning our dinner