We arrived to an extremely hot Florence in the early afternoon and after dropping off our gear at the hotel - why are there never any lifts and you're always on the 4th floor - we wandered around the city. There were quite a few open markets which were fun to look through. Most of them were selling leather goods such as belts, jackets, handbags... if only we had more room in our bags... however they weren't exactly cheap so we were satisfied with just looking.

Like most of the other cities we have been everything was quite close together so we saw everything on foot. The highlight would have to be michelangelo's David which was so much more impressive in real life. The Ponte vecchio was great too, lots of little gold shops clustered over a bridge, very novel.

We found a little supermarket near us where everything was 1 euro or less, even wine and beer... bargain!

We took a trip out to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower, quite an unusual sight and worth the hour train trip, although you also get to see lots of tuscan countryside which was a bonus.

Florence was a very enjoyable city to visit and from here we go to Rome.