<< Traveling | Return to Home | Walking Tour >>

Sunday, September 14, 2003
Our families had not yet arrived, but our friends had settled into their villa in Raddicondoli a few kilometers away, so we headed over to check out their digs -- very nice as well! The weather was a bit too cool to take advantage of their pool, so we decided to take a trip to San Gimgiagno, a Tuscan hilltop town famous for its skyline of medieval towers. We strolled around, had lunch and the first of many delicious gelato (ice cream)!

Monday, September 15, 2003
We had to be at the US Consulate in Florence first thing in the morning to take care of paperwork and jump through the second of many bureaucratic hoops necessary to be married in Italy. (The first was at the Italian consulate in San Francisco, but don't even get Kim started on that episode.) To our relief, this was relatively quick and painless experience. In a chance meeting, we bumped into a friend of a friend, in the form of another couple at the Consulate to be married the same week -- the bride is the hairstylist of a woman we know through our morning 'boot camp'. Small world, huh?

We took the rest of the day to see places we missed when we were last here four years ago -- Umbria, Arrezzo, Oliveto, Cortona (setting for the book and movie Under the Tuscan Sun), and one of our new favorite places: beautiful Assisi, the hometown and resting place of St. Francis, the namesake of our own San Francisco.

By that evening most of our family had arrived, and we met Shar's family for a terrific meal at the hotel restaurant – and a few bottles of our favorite wine, Brunello di Montalcino!

Tuesday September 16, 2003
We sent our families out to explore and headed into Siena for our first (and only before the wedding day) face-to-face meeting with our wedding coordinator Ben, to deal with the final official paperwork, appointments, etc. and go over a last-minute details. At our last official appointment, to obtain our marriage license, we had to swear to several articles: we were not related by blood or adoption, we were not insane (this was, to say the least, questionable in Kim's case on this particular day), and -- our personal favorite -- we had not been convicted of the murder or attempted murder of a former spouse (apparently accused is OK?).

This was our first trip into the city of Siena since we were there four years ago. The Campo was still as lively and vibrant as we remembered. After the appointments, we talked with Ben over espresso in a café on the piazza and knew we would have no regrets selecting this special setting to celebrate our wedding. Later that afternoon we took the opportunity to mostly relax poolside at Il Poggiaccio and soak up the Tuscan sun.

That night we dined in our apartment with Kim's family and prepared ourselves for the real festivities to begin!

<< Traveling | Return to Home | Walking Tour >>