My UK blog reader and his family left Florence this morning and are probably back in London by now…Boy, the house seems so empty without them! We really had a glorious time and hope to meet up again soon.

I wanted to tell you about a few of the almost unbelievable strokes of luck that my blog reader (= a professional photographer) had while he was here. For example:

1. Yesterday we were in San Miniato, a small hilltop town between Florence and Pisa. My friend stopped to take a few photos in one of the town squares, Piazza della Repubblica (= this photo shows part of the colorful façade of a 17th century religious seminary located in Piazza della Repubblica, which you can reach by walking down a flight of stone steps under the enclosed bridge…), while the rest of us walked ahead…down a hill toward what turned out to be a very nice ice cream parlor. 🙂 Within a few minutes he caught up to us and, with a HUGE grin on his face, he told us that, while he was in Piazza della Repubblica taking photos, he had started thinking, “Oooh, wouldn’t it be nice if a nun walked out of the seminary just now?” And, within a few seconds, a nun came out…No kidding…
2. Very early this morning he drove up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to take a few last-minute photos of Florence. Well, lo and behold, he spotted and photographed a hot air balloon flying right over the city. I mean, HELLO???, a hot air ballooooooon over Florence? Why, I have never EVER seen one here…and so early in the morning, too!!! Unbelievable…unbelievable…
3. Just before they set off for the airport, my friend and I went for a quick walk in my neighborhood. As we were going up a hill, he stopped and pointed above our heads. I looked up just in time to see a rather big red squirrel running across an electric wire. Now, I have lived in this neighborhood for more than ten years, and this is only the second time (!!!) I’ve seen a red squirrel here…(For the record: Stefano has never seen one…not in our neighborhood, I mean, or elsewhere in Italy, for that matter!)…

There are a few other similar “lucky” episodes, but I can’t recall them right now…Anyway, clearly this was my blog reader’s lucky week! Ours, too…

I haven’t had any time to do research today (ehm, I am desperately trying to catch up with my e-mails in my snippets of free time…), but I did manage to read an interesting Science Daily article on the healthful effects of tai chi & green tea on our BONES. You will be surprised, I think: http://goo.gl/gF5z1 Good stuff! Oh, speaking of which, a quick word of caution: please don’t forget that you should not drink green tea or take any supplements containing EGCG if you are taking Velcade. Or rather, you should avoid green tea/EGCG on your “Velcade day.” At a patient seminar, Dr. Brian Durie told me that it’s okay for green tea aficionados to have a cuppa on their “off-of-Velcade” days.

I also watched a funny video that made me laugh and that I hope you will enjoy, too. It shows a dog singing the blues…: http://goo.gl/gKB8V 🙂