Florence

We have really enjoyed Florence. Compared to Rome and Naples, it is MUCH cleaner, smaller and much more pedestrian friendly. The hotel we stayed in, Hotel Perseo, has been wonderful and we would highly recommend it. We were met at the front desk by the very friendly and enthusiastic Louise, who with her husband, purchased the hotel in 1996 and have really refurbished it nicely. Louise is from New Zealand and she gave us some great tips for our upcoming trip to NZ in April, which was really appreciated.

Since we had four days here, we decided to take a bus tour of the Tuscany region rather than go through the hassle of renting a car and driving everywhere and we are so glad we did. The bus tour left Florence at 8:45 a.m. and stopped in two classic Tuscan towns, San Gimignano and Siena where we had a great two hour walking tour, and then a stop at a winery for a tasting before heading back to Florence around 6:30 p.m. On top of all that, we met some really wonderful people including a couple from southern California and a mother and son from the U.K.

We have also really enjoyed the sights in Florence. The main draw here is the Duomo, which is the city's most iconic landmark and considered one of Italy's "Big Three" attractions, along with Pisa's leaning tower and the colosseum in Rome. Our hotel was within easy walking distance of the Duomo and today we actually took the stairs to the top of the dome - 463 steps!! At the top, you could walk around a very narrow balcony on the inside of the dome and then proceed to the outdoor viewing area on the very top. Let's just say that when I stepped out on that narrow balcony on the inside of the dome, I wished he had some of those happy pills the doctor gave me if I get a little anxious when flying! There's something about stepping out on a ledge that's not even two feet wide with plexiglass around the railing so you can see ALL the way down to the floor of the cathedral that can kind of give you the jitters!!

We also visited the Galleria dell' Accademia, where Michelangelo's famous sculpture of David is housed. It truly is amazing, I must say. He carved it when he was 29 years old out of a single block of marble. In addition to David, there are a number of unfinished sculptures of his that are on display as well.

We head off to Bologna tomorrow, our last stop in Italy. We'll be taking the high speed train, which will make it about a 30 minute journey. From there, we'll be flying to Porto, Portugal on the 23rd. Since we have five nights in Bologna, we're planning on doing something fun like take a cooking class. After all, Bologna is where the classic bolognese sauce comes from, which is Jim's favorite so we need to learn how to make that for sure!