Italy - Firenze (Florence)

Kei and I arrived in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for our 4 hour layover, which sounds like a long time but if you've ever been there, you know that it took about half that to find out where to go, get there and wait in line.

Once we were ready to leave we realized that we had a puddle jumper and had to walk on the runway to our little plane. A short flight later and we were walking in Florence. We stayed at a cute B&B called Hotel Dei Mori. The owners, Suzanne and Peter were extrememly helpful and not only made museum and dinner reservations for us in Florence but gave us info for Rome. I would recommend staying there.

Our first afternoon we stopped at a little hole in the wall place (literally) called Il Fratelli for a sandwich and a drink. We sat on a nearby ledge to eat when we were approached by a young Gypsy begger. She held out a plastic cup for money but instead, just decided to grab my unopended water and walk away with it for herself. Welcome to Florence! :p

We went to the outdoor markets of San Lorenzo and Mercato Nuovo and Palazzo Vecchio and wandered around. We decided to go back and clean up for dinner and check Kei's board exam results.

He was anxious but I knew he'd pass. He is now a board certified radiologist! :)

We went on a recommendation to Baldavino's for dinner where Kei ordered the Florentine specialty of Bistecca. It is a large T-bone steak that is seared for about a minute on each side and served extremely rare. This one was about 40 oz. (1.1 kg). Yes, he ate all of it...I had gnocchi.























Our second day we went to the Uffizi Gallery of art and then to the Boboli Gardens which were amazingly beautiful and we couldn't see them all. On the way out there was a grotto built into the wall with a fountain and statues built from a porous rock, it was a welcome respite from the heat.










































We had a snack with a view of the Ponte Vecchio before walking over it and the Arno River. The weather has been great, pretty hot but sunny. We had a nice dinner at Coquinarius, another recommendation.

The third day we went to see David at the Accademia. He is larger than life and it's hard to imagine creating something so perfect from stone. We tried to get into Museum San Marco but it was the fifth Sunday of the month and therefore closed. Many sites in Italy have odd hours and close on random days. We had to switch hotels because we exteneded our stay and our current one didn't have a room for another night so we went to Hotel Dali. We then went to the Duomo and looked around Santa Maria della Fiore but didn't make it in time to climb the Duomo. So we climbed the Giotto's bell tower instead.

We rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner at a mom & pop place on an out of the way street. Iche C'e C'e (Whatever It Is, It Is). This was the best dinner we had in Florence. Food was great, price was right, and the service by the owners/cooks/waitstaff was great. We were ready for a good night's sleep but........Hotl Dali gets two thumbs down. I requested a quiet room but we got one right off the lobby, near the stairs and over a courtyard/parking lot. After finally getting to sleep, I woke up to a constant pounding for about an hour at 8:00 am which was either construction or a 2 year old running amok.

Our last mornging we woke up and decided to just get out of dodge. We made one last stop at Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, an old perfumery that is associated with the church and its monks. We both bought some nice scents and then took the train to Rome.