Finally in Fabulous Florence!

Just a quick note to let everyone back home know that we have arrived safe and sound! We have already enjoyed an awesome walking tour of Florence (where we saw the magnificent Duomo and baptistry, the famous 'Ponte Vecchio' bridge and lots more), a delicious 3 course Italian dinner, and TONS of yummy gelato!

Many more stories and photos to come---but for now we are off to bed to rest up for our trip to Venice tomorrow!

Ciao Ciao

:)

Final days...

Visiting Venice!

Farewell Florence!

Tonight is our final night in Florence. We have really had a great stay in this city! We got to see some of the most famous Renaissance artistic masterpieces of all time... We learned to barter in markets… We shopped till we dropped… We ate at several fantastic restaurants… We visited multiple beautiful churches… and more!

Particularly special was that our stay in Florence coincided with an important holiday/festival: Italian Independence Day (the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy). Today was the official holiday, and starting yesterday evening, the entire city was transformed into a festive playground with marching bands parading through the streets, live musical performances, street performers, a hot air balloon spectacle, green white and red flags, banners, balloons, and other decorations, and more! What a fun way to bid farewell to the forever fantastic city of Firenze :)

Off to VENICE in the am!!!!

Farewell Florence!

Tonight is our final night in Florence. We have really had a great stay in this city! We got to see some of the most famous Renaissance artistic masterpieces of all time... We learned to barter in markets… We shopped till we dropped… We ate at several fantastic restaurants… We visited multiple beautiful churches… and more!

Particularly special was that our stay in Florence coincided with an important holiday/festival: Italian Independence Day (the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy). Today was the official holiday, and starting yesterday evening, the entire city was transformed into a festive playground with marching bands parading through the streets, live musical performances, street performers, a hot air balloon spectacle, green white and red flags, banners, balloons, and other decorations, and more! What a fun way to bid farewell to the forever fantastic city of Firenze :)

Off to VENICE in the am!!!!

SIENA & SAN GIMIGNANO

Our day-long excursion to the lovely medieval towns of Siena and San Gimignano was thoroughly enjoyable! Both these Tuscan towns were as picturesque as could be with narrow winding cobblestone streets and offered beautiful views of the rolling hills that make up the typical Tuscan countryside. We had a great tour in Siena where we visited the beautiful Duomo and learned all about the famous Palio horse races. In San Gimignano we saw the trademark towers, did some souvenir shopping, and of course, indulged in some first-class gelato!

Florence (Firenze)!

It’s been slightly rainier than anticipated here, but we are still taking in all the great sights, sounds, and flavors of Italy. Florence is proving to be a great city filled with fantastic art, architecture… and of course shopping! Today we had a wonderful guided walking tour of the city where we saw the Duomo (Cathedral) and the baptistry, the church of San Lorenzo (where the Medici tombs carved by Michelangeo are), the San Lorenzo leather market, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge where the gold market is), and the church of Santa Croce. Here are some pictures of us at some of these beautiful sites:

Tomorrow we are off for a day-long excursion to Siena and San Gimignano. More to come on that soon! :)