For all the fact that we speak endlessly of our enjoyment of the city of Siena, our visit to Tuscany would be less than satisfying without spending time in the streets of Firenze. Something magic about hearing and dodging Vespas (and larger) as we marvel at the splendor of this city of the Medici and Michaelangelo.

The Uffizi can easily overdose the visitor with what surely ranks among the finest collections anywhere of paintings, of any era. We aren't art historians, alas, but the assemblage in these rooms woos us in that direction.

And we had to travel on the Eurostar sometime during our visit. We drove to Perugia first, boarded an ordinary train for Roma, secured tickets for this deluxe passage, and flew smoothly along the rails to Firenze. Then back to a mortal train for the return to Perugia and our lowly rented auto. Sigh.

We were struck by the similarities to air travel: smoothness, speed, nicely uniformed