A Tale of Two Cities

Greetings, blog followers! The first phase of our vacation is officially complete, and we've moved on to Tuscany, where we're staying in a rented house. The places here aren't quite as packed with blog-worthy info as the previous ones, but there are still a few gems to talk about in this catch-up episode.

The first noteworthy city we visited is Certaldo, a tiny mountaintop city. It only takes about fifteen minutes to walk around the whole town, but what little is there is interesting, since Certaldo was built in medieval times (i.e. over a thousand years ago).

We had to take a tram up the steep hillside. What is it with Italians and building things on cliffs?

We seem to have made it our mission to stop at (at least) one café in every city we visit. This one had a cat. 

An interesting statue. Note the background- since the old city is on a large hill, it offers great views of the newer part and the countryside around it.

The second Tuscan city that we visited was Siena. The city of Siena was- and still is, to some extent- divided into 17 "contradas", or clans. Even today, citizens of the city are born into a contrada and remain members of it for life. It's like a fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons style city was brought into real life, and it is amazing.

Siena was once in a fierce rivalry with Florence, competing to see who could build the best city.This bell tower was intentionally built to be taller than any tower in Florence.

Before the plague hit and severely hindered development of the city, Siena was just as big and famous as Florence. Had events worked out slightly differently, this town would have been very well-known.

This is the outside of a huge cathedral, known for its zebra-stripe pattern. The original plan was to have the cathedral be bigger that even St. Peter's in Rome. Had the building not been interrupted (plague again, in case you were wondering), it would have been the biggest cathedral in Europe at that time.

The inside. The zebra-stripes continue.

The cathedral's impressive front.

Thanks for reading!

Bonus: Photos from the Pool!

We found a pool, we found some pool toys, and we got to work.

Warning: some people may not fit in Tiger.

Aidan's Greek Myths

Note: The names of many gods can be spelled quite differently, depending on who you ask. Kronos can be Cronus, Uranus can be Ouranos, etcetera. I'm just using the names that I think are the most common.

Episode Three: Zeus

Baby Zeus was now hidden away in a secret cave. The attendants of the cave would bang on the shields whenever he cried, so he was well protected from the sharp hearing of his father. In fact, he was very well-treated in general- he even had a magical ram that produced nectar from one horn and ambrosia from the other (the drink and the food of the gods, respectively).

Eventually, Zeus came of age and was able to challenge his father. He was craftier than Kronos, so before taking on him and the other Titans, he first made some allies.

First, he went to Tartarus and freed the Cyclopes and Hundred-Handers. Now in debt to him, they were eager to serve, and the Cyclopes even crafted powerful weapons for him- Zeus's iconic lightning bolts. Second, he concocted a potion and slipped it into his father's food, making him violently ill. This made Kronos regurgitate all of the other children, gaining Zeus even more allies. Finally, he challenged Kronos in an epic duel known as the Titan War.

Who will win the Titans' final clash? Tune in next time for the grand reveal!