Next stop... Firenze

 Oh my!  Florence is such a romantic place full of history, art and great food. And it has gelato on just about every corner!! The cobblestone roads are so neat to just walk around and get lost on. And that's what we did-- a lot of walking! But we didn't mind at all, as there is lots to see.
   
Again, as in Venice, I booked our hotel within walking distance to the train station.  The Style Hotel Florence was absolutely perfect!  Our suite was quite large with a fabulous bathroom and a fantastic breakfast.  It was also very easy to walk to anywhere in Florence we wanted explore.. just remember, ladies, to bring flats when visiting Florence!  The cobblestones would not be easy in any sort of heel.

The Ponte Vecchio has the most beautiful sunsets we've ever seen. We got some great shots there, and we got lucky enough to get a great spot overlooking the Arno river for a nice, romantic dinner. Each night in Florence we shared a cheese plate, a bottle of wine and then ate gelato. Even if we were stuffed, we had to keep the deal we made and eat gelato. Being a touristy town, men playing an accordion would come give us a performance over our wine and cheese plate.  It was pretty cute!

We did all the main touristy things except for climbing the Duomo. We tried, but I started getting overwhelmed with the height of the winding stairs and started experiencing claustrophobia for the first time ever. No Duomo climbing for this gal. My hubby was kind enough to walk me back down, but not without making fun, of course. We accomplished everything else on our list though-- the Ponte Vecchio sunset, the Uffizi, Accademia, statue of David, Pitti Palace and lunch on the Piazza della Signoria.

Florence was divine.

lunch time!

sunset from the Ponte Vecchio