Florence

We arrived in Florence around 1:30 am the next morning and checked into our room. I took the morning to sleep in while John returned the rental car. We finally got moving mid-day and decided to book a wine tour since we were in Tuscany, the home of Chianti wine. We took a tour bus up to a vineyard and learned about the wine making process and toured the storage rooms and the gardens. Afterward, we had a wine tasting then headed to a small town square where we were able to shop. When we arrived back in Florence we were so exhausted we decided to take a long nap before dinner. We finally headed out for a late dinner where we ate while an opera singer sang in the square. The whole atmosphere of the food, beautiful square, and the opera singer made for a really good night.

The next morning John and I wanted to explore more of Florence. We had a few hours before our tour began so we decided to walk down to a bridge in the medieval quarter which in fact looks more like a street lined with shops rather than a bridge. It was incredible to see...all the shops sold Diamonds...John bought them all for me ;) (I wish). We then walked to the Pitti Palace where we saw an art gallery filled with art from famous renaissance artists. We also toured the royal apartments and saw some amazing rooms. I learned a valuable lesson...don’t touch the statues or else you will set off an alarm. Following my brush with the law, we decided have a little walk around the city until the start of our tour. Once our tour started we saw great sights such as the Duomo and the baptistry in addition to learning a lot about the colorful history of the city. As soon as the tour ended John and I rushed back to the Duomo so we could view the inside of the cathedral and walk to the top of the massive dome. The walk to the top of the dome was very interesting. The staircase was very narrow and winding...aka claustrophobic. Once we finally made it to the top the view was breathtaking! On the way back to the hotel we had a great time bartering in the marketplace with locals for some great souvenirs. Once we arrived home we had a short nap and then headed to another great dinner accompanied by a pianist playing in the square.