We set off really early this morning (just after 6.00am) trying not to wake Geoff and Lynn until we realised that we couldn't lock the door from the outside. It was only after we'd already woken them that Lynn mentioned we could have locked the door then posted the key back through the letterbox - silly us. We're just not used to having a letterbox in the front door!

It was a good job Geoff told us to leave early to miss the rush hour. We managed to get to our third change of trains before we got on one going the wrong way! Backtracked a bit and then we were at the City Airport for our 9.25 flight. They were having trouble with the baggage conveyors so we had to queue for a while (what a surprise!). Anyway, all sorted and a two hour trip to Italy. We were treated to a wonderful view of snow-covered alps for a little while - very nice.

Our hotel in Florence is in an old building (like there's any other kind in Florence) and the separate apartments all seem to be small hotels. It's cute but a little confusing. Dropped our stuff and pretty much went out straight away. We'd already booked our tickets for the Galleria Accademia to see the statue of David so we had a quick wander around the market beforehand. They had some gorgeous boots for 55 euros (too high for me unfortunately) and other gorgeous ones for 155 euros! Plenty of leather goods and scarves. Lots of purple too - I think I'm going to become a Fiorentina fan - I love their purple shirts!

We went into the Accademia which is quite a small museum/gallery and it's biggest drawcard is Michelangelo's statue of David. It blew me away when I was 18 and it still rings my bells now. Tony was equally impressed and very glad he'd seen it. The rest of the gallery is pretty much full of religious paintings but there were a few more pretty impressive sculptures too. Some of the paintings dated from the 1300's! After that we just wandered around looking at the streets and shops until we realised that we were both so tired we were bumping into each other and feeling dizzy!

Clearly it was time to come back to the hotel for a rest (which is what we're doing) and then find something to eat before an early night. We're thinking Leaning Tower of Pisa tomorrow!