European Vacation 2009 - Florence, Italy (Days 8-11)

During the tour of Italy, Florence has been my favorite Italian city so far. The only downfall is that the drive into the city center to find our hotel was a tad stressful as Garmin kept 'recalculating' and leading us down streets that were clearly only for pedestrians. We got more than one evil eye from our fellow Americans. Little did they know that the Danish license plates actually contained two Americans from the midwest!! You should have seen one guy's face when I said hello to him. Ha!


We stayed at the Hotel Calzaiuoli right on Calzaiuoli street, which runs between the Duomo and the Uffizi gallery. The hotel is one of the best (non-chain) hotels we've stayed at in Europe. The hotel has 45 rooms at varying luxury levels, ranging from a standard room, deluxe room, superior room, or a high end room. The rate includes breakfast, which is quite impressive. The desk staff have been extremely helpful in getting us tickets to the Uffizi gallery and the Accademia.


I think we've managed to 'do it all' in Florence. No, not really, but we did hit most of the main sights. We've...


Viewed art at Uffizi
Shopped at the various markets
Saw Michaelangelo's David at the Accademia
Walked through the Cappelle Medici
Galleria d'Arte Moderna
Piazza San Marco
Palazzo Vecchio
Il Duomo
Santa Croce
San Lorenzo
Santa Maria Novella
Palazzo Pitti
Giadrino di Boboli (Boboli Gardens)
Shopped on the Ponte Vecchio (bridge)
Galileo Museum
Saw some amazing street artwork
Sampled a few (well, maybe a little more than a few) flavors of gelato
Ate yummy bruchetta

Our next stop is Tuscany.