We started the day on the south side of the river at the Pitti Palace, a de Medici palace, though the bought it from Luca Pitti and added on. It's at the other end of the walkway that goes to the Uffizi over the Ponte Vecchio, and now houses a number of museums and the Bóboli Gardens. You have to pick between two sets of museums when buying your ticket, and my preferred combination of the Galleria Palatina (with the major paintings) and the gardens wasn't an option. We went with the paintings, it being a chilly morning, near freezing, and we were all cold from our walk. Garden viewing wasn't on.

The Galleria Palatina was the experience I'd have liked in the Uffizi. Smaller crowds, and each room had a card available in Italian or English with the layout of each wall and blurbs for each painting, table/vase/whatever, and the ceiling frescoes. Better yet for my limited art knowledge, the really major works in each room were highlighted in red, for a quick way to be sure you didn't miss, say, the most significant Raphael in the room. After the rooms of paintings came the state apartments, also interesting. I think my favorite room,vas well as my nephew's, was the room of Hercules (supposedly the protector of the Medici family). B. put his mythology to the test trying to ID the setting of the various ceiling components and the paintings, while I verified by way of the card/cheat sheet.

That took up the morning, and rather exceeded the art quota for the younger generation. We walked back across the Arno, found a sandwich shop on Via dei Tavolini and got what turned out to be small sandwiches to share, and ate those in the street before heading first to the Nuovo Mercato street market, then back to the one at San Lorenzo for better prices. Brian wasn't interested in shopping and headed towards the hotel, the kids took off together, and Robbie, Myra, and I stuck together. The two shopper groups coalesced after a while to look for a leather coat L. was buying for her gym teacher, and a purse for herself, promised as a gift from Robbie. We found the coat first, and at the same shop I found one (hip length black with brown cuffs and collar) for myself, then the (excellent) salesman got A.L. to try on one that we all said was a great look on her. She couldn't afford it, and ended up getting a special gift from her grandma. :).

Shopping finished up with successful finding of a purse for L. and assorted smaller items as gifts for various people. I bought myself two scarves, one for dress-up and one for warmth (labelled as "Firenze-Italia" but made in China when you find the inner tag, alas). We walked back to the hotel by Via Genori, with a stop at Le Botteghe I'd Leonardo gelato shop (no GMO! No preservatives! No artificial colors or favors!), and arrived at the hotel in time to get coffee or tea from the afternoon tray.

Dinner was L.'s birthday celebration, and we had a recommendation for Paoli's from our first-day guide. Very nice, small, with arched and painted ceilings.
Close to kitchen and could watch--our waiter turned to ask if the steak I wanted was still available (yes), and called out in the other direction to order L.'s salad of rocket, zucchini, Parmesan, and truffles. I had filet with cream and green peppercorn sauce, after starting with a salad, then ended with creme caramel.

We gathered in a room off the hotel lobby to give L. her presents--she's now rather well supplied with scarves, I can report.

Hotel breakfast was adequate, but again a step or two down from previous hotels. No hot items, smaller selection of cold meats, cereals, and pastries, and a self-serve pot of coffee and milk instead of someone to prepare it as you order. 

We had decided to have a half-day tour to get oriented, and our guide Allessandra met us at the hotel. She was very good, giving a lot of Florentine history and art discussions as we walked and doing pretty well at engaging the kids, especially B.  
First stop was the basilica of San Lorenzo, large (large and well decorated were themes, as much of the core of Florence was built in a sort of conspicuous consumption arms race with other Italian cities), but looking rough as it never received the marble skin it was built to have. The market for leather and other goods fills a few streets around the church,  and is a row of tent booths, oftentimes set up in front of the owner's storefront, which they are anxious to get you to enter to view more stock. We weren't shopping at that point. 
Next up was the Duomo, the heart of the city.  Visible from lots of places, so you can't stay lost for long--you can always get back to the Duomo. The dome is a major feature as the English cognate shows, an early success in building a very large and octagonal dome, and it's actually 2 domes with a space in between. Steps in that space let you can climb to the top of the dome. The exterior of the Duomo is clad in a rather dramatic white, green,and pink marble facade, a 19th century addition. We didn't have time to wait in the line to go in, but did admire the Baptistry doors by Ghiberti--copies, with the originals in the Bargello museum since the 1966 flood damaged them. 
We walked on to the Piazza della Repubblica, with a big arch and a very useful 3D map of the core of the old city in bronze that our guide used to talk about the bridges and the river.
From there it was a walkthrough of the Palazzo Strozzi, for a discussion on how the rich lived in the Renaissance. Big palaces, lower floors fortified and with barred windows, used for food storage, stables, and soldiers. Upper floors were for the family, but the fewer stairs needed the more prestigious, so the children and servants got the highest levels. Kitchens were at the top, to keep the smoke and cooking odors away and to minimize damage from fires. 
We walked by the Ferragamo house/offices, a building much in this style, but with a store on the street level. The modern Medicis, says our guide. 
We walked across the Ponte Santa Trinita, looking at the Arno and the part of city destroyed in World War II.  That included the buildings on either side of, but not the shop-lined Ponte Vecchio. It was spared by the Germans not for its history or beauty (sort of), but because the bridge couldn't have been used for tank crossings anyway. All other bridges in Florence were destroyed, but have mostly been rebuilt in their old styles. 
Walked close to the Pitti Palace, later home of the Medicis, but not to it.
Recrossed the Arno on the Ponte Vecchio, historic home of gold and silversmiths and now mostly jewelry shops. The bust of Benvenuto Cellini on the bridge made me think of The Spirit Ring.  An upper walk crosses the bridge and connected the Pitti Palace and the Palazzo Vecchio for the Medici in a private walkway. 
Walked by the Uffizi and were shown where to pick up our tickets the next say, then it was on to the  Palazzo Vecchio (the town hall) and the Piazza Della Signoria with a cluster of original and copies of famous statuary, most recognizable being the copy of Michelangelo's David. 
On to the Galleria dell'Accademia, and the real David, and our guide gave us a nice introduction to it before leaving us there. We had lunch at at Ristorante  nearby--mine was a fairly ordinary pici with ragú, others thought they had their best meal of the trip there. 
Headed for gelato, stopped and went into Duomo as the line had almost evaporated and looked at the interior. The girls wanted to climb the dome via the staircase between the two layers, but the line was too long.  
Next up was gelato. L's gelato-expert friend's  "best in Florence" was closed until New Years, so we went to Grom, part of a chain.  I got chocolate and stratiacella--chain or no, it was good. 
We then split up, and Robbie, Myra, and I wandered through part of San Lorenzo market but made only minor purchases. Back to hotel, and I took a nap. 
At about 6, Robbie and Myra volunteered to do laundry, process that eventually stretched past 9 pm as they waited on machines. They got sandwiches at the bar next to the hotel, later Brian and L. went there and got sandwiches/salad and brought back sandwiches for other kids.  I skipped, as I had nibbled pannetone with tea at hotel's afternoon serve-yourself tea and the cold was depressing my appetite. 

Three States (geographical States, let's not count the sometimes states of confusion, enlightenment, etc.) today: Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Not many if you're trying to cover territory, but pretty good for a work day.

The excursion started yesterday, when I went to the office and collected a vehicle and drove to Chattanooga, TN, about 2 hours from Atlanta. ( visiting TVA, Chattanooga, and a thermoelectric power plant, all behind the cut )

In the usual fashion, I don't have time to make this shorter. An unfocused and un-edited ramble follows...

( Washington meetings, Moultrie furniture moving )

After that, it was a pretty relaxing day. The folks next door called from Cancun to wish me a happy birthday, and the kids bemoaned the weather Tropical Storm Alex was causing. I took a short nap, went to Home Depot for some garden stuff and to the grocery store, baked cake-of-the-week (not one I'd choose for my birthday cake), grilled a steak for dinner, and went to Brusters for a kids' hot fudge sundae for my real birthday treat.

Now, what I really need is a weekend. How come tomorrow's Monday?

Lots of storms in Atlanta this morning, with flash-flood warnings out (though not as bad as Nashville....so far). I started this post at the airport waiting on my delayed flight to Columbus, OH, which was held up on its inbound leg. We finally took off, and arrived at 1:30 or so, not quite 2 hours late.

When I got to the local USGS office, though, I found I had it easy. This trip is for three of us working on a project to get together and look at the analysis to date. K., obviously, is based in Columbus. S. is based in Memphis, and was driving with her husband....via Nashville. They left Sunday morning expecting to get to Ohio that afternoon. Apparently they've spent a lot of time sitting in traffic going nowhere. When K. and I left for the day at 5, S. was still on the road but was clear of the flooding problem area.

Hopefully person 3 has arrived now, and we'll be able to work together tomorrow and Wednesday.

I got home last evening after a full week in Denver, the first of the usual 2 trips there for database testing. I added to the trip this time by going out on Friday, meeting up with friend and co-worker Krissi (same friend as on the recent Disney excursions), and spending the weekend we arrived....working. There was far advance testing prep needed in than we could do (or than the test manager could do), but we did get through a tricky task each and also got our heads in the right place for the coming week of testing.

Sunday afternoon we drove back out to the airport to turn in our personal rental car (the database program manager having refused to pay for our weekend expenses--his budget is *extremely* tight), met up with the programmer for the water-use part of the database at the rental car place where he got a car at the gov't rate, picked up a contract programmer at the airport proper, then drove back to our hotel in Lakewood. Krissi headed in for an early night, but I went with the other two on a drive to Idaho Springs, Central City, then looping back to Golden and Lakewood. It was nice to see something other than Denver, Lakewood, and the Federal Center for a change...we are out here so often, there's a tendency to not do any sight-seeing during the week. The drive was also a chance to get to know Tong (the contract programmer)--I had had no contact with him before, and Todd (the water-use programmer) had been communicating with him by phone and email for a few months but had never met him face-to-face.

Beyond that, it was a full week on the database. We're making radical changes to the aggregate data database (the one that supports The Report) and are 18 months from release, so that testing was in the very early stages. I did a little on that, but spent most of my week in the main NWIS testing the groundwater database, which is adding access to some tables formerly used only by water use.

Today I seem to still be on Mountain Time--I got up late, went to Pastries A Go Go for breakfast as it seemed too much trouble to make coffee at home, went to the library, then home. Lunch was late again at Panera, then I went to the grocery store and home. Final excursion was to the Post Office with a Bookmooch book, then a swing by Whole Foods for creme fraiche, and home again. In between all these trips, picture me either with a book in hand or in front of the computer, but always with a cat in the lap, on the shoulders, or on the desk beside me.

The Groundwater Users Group meeting started Tuesday and went through today, meeting at the local USGS office on the campus of Portland State University. The meeting was pretty productive, but I was less so than usual as Tuesday I came down with a cold. As colds go it's not too severe, but I'm coughing, sniffing, and wheezing, and my voice is threatening to go. Made it rather hard today when I was presenting a topic and the discussion went long--I ended up taking a coughing fit out in the hall towards the end. But I survived, and I hope I managed to keep my germs to myself.

I skipped dinner on Tuesday for an early evening, and skipped the excursion to Multnomah Falls yesterday to spare everyone else my germs in the 15-passenger van. As they left at about 3:30 for that trip, I took the streetcar to a Safeway for cold medicines, then on to Pioneer Square to a Moonstruck Chocolates store for truffles. This evening everyone went separate ways, so I found a good hamburger at a local chain called Stanfords--there was one three blocks from my hotel.

Tomorrow I catch a van to the airport at 9, and am armed with *real* Pseudophed for the flight courtesy of Dorrie. I discovered to my horror that Pseudophed requires a prescription in Oregon, instead of just being a 'behind the counter' medication as it is in Georgia. Funny thing about colds--everyone wants to give you their remedy for it. I took the Emergen-C (vitamin C plus some other stuff) from Eve, declined Greg's Zicam, and as I said fell on the offer of Pseudophed from Dorrie. Hopefully the ears will stay unblocked so the flight won't be to unpleasant. I'll be trying hard to keep my cold germs away from my fellow passengers.

Between two trips, that is. And two committee meetings, the purpose of the trips. Chicago was the water-use user group (database users, that is), and I'm en route to Portland, OR for the groundwater user group. I'm on both of these because the two disciplines share a lot of issues and a lot of database functionailty.

( Odd training, and other stuff )

So I'm on the way to Portland--I used a chunk of the 5 hour flight time for working on my part of the upcoming meeting, but of course found I need an Internet connection to do it all. Tonight and tomorrow I'll be getting together with a friend who retired last year and his wife. Dinner tonight, and tomorrow they offered to take me on an excursion to the Oregon coast. Tuesday the groundwater user group meeting starts, and Tuesday night I'll have a mini-Pifflefest with Kay/oregon_katy. Wednesday evening the GW group will compress our work day and take off in mid-afternoon to drive to Multnomah Falls on the Columbia River gorge. Thursday evening is open--I will probably try to include a visit to Moonstruck Chocolates as part of my evening. Should be a nice combination of work and fun.

I'm in Chicago for the week. OK, Bensenville, which is suburban Chicago, SW of O'Hare. It's the annual water-use database users group meeting, and our new chairman picked Chicago for the location then found this hotel. I still haven't figured out why he was so set on Chicago, but I'm trying to not interfere--I limited myself, during the planning, to a couple of mentions of why meeting at a USGS office (even one that's not a committee member's base) had logistical and financial advantages. Hotel shortcomings will be ranted on later.

( lunch with friends )

In light of my short night of sleep (up too late doing chores and packing), I elected to nap away my afternoon instead of tackling the Chicago public transit system to go downtown. I'll do that tomorrow (meeting starts Tuesday)--headed to the Field Museum first, then maybe Millennium Park or other wandering in the Loop area, the water tower (I am here for a water use meeting, after all...), and whatever else catches my fancy. It's my first trip to Chicago proper, so I'm just exploring.

I'm in Denver for the first of the two annual database tests. I arrived on Sunday to a beautiful clear day, with temps that let me not quite abandon the jacket, but at least leave it open. Flying in there had been some snow cover left over from their blizzard last week, but pavements were mostly clear and grassy areas were getting that way.

When my carpool group emerged from the hotel yesterday, it was into cold and gray (OK, the sun wasn't up yet, but anyway), with some sort of freezing precip blowing into our faces and a couple of inches accumulated on the cars and grass. Looked like pelletized snow, in sleet-sized particles. Uncomfortable, whatever it's called. That cleared up in time for me to make a chilly hike at lunch to Subway (food + some exercise). By the evening lots of the grass was clear of snow again, aided by the drying effect of the brisk wind.

Today is supposed to be clear, high of 45 F. Tomorrow, more snow in the afternoon, maybe another couple of inches. Thursday, clear again (and I fly out that morning, so I'd like that snow cleared in time for the trip to the airport, and clear conditions to fly please....).