Our last day of vacation, and while we have had an amazing time, we are both ready to be home, in our own bed and with clean clothes. While we are both used to traveling, being gone for two weeks is still a bit long. We had decided that our weekend in Florence would be relaxing and we would not feel obligated to be on the go the entire day. So, of course that meant sleeping in and cappuccino's at an outdoor table.   
 
After another relaxing morning, we decided to go back over the bridge to a leather shop that we found yesterday. Florence is known for their leather and this shop didn't look to be one of the cookie cutter "leather factory" shops that seem to be all over the city. Ken looked at belts and a wallet, while I tried on the leather jackets. All seemed to be very good quality and while not cheap, they weren't crazy expensive either. After making our purchase decisions, we asked the owner if there was any place he would recommend that we should see that afternoon. He suggested the Piazza d'Michelangelo up the hill from the shop.  
 
We took his advice and walked along the river, then up stone steps until we reached the top, which was overlooking Florence. The view was amazing and was an excellent way to see the entire city. On the way back down, we found a Bevo Wine bar which meant we had to stop for a beverage in honor of the University of Texas (Bevo is the longhorn mascot).  
 
Like yesterday, we had 4pm reservations at the Academia to see Michelangelo's David. So, we started that direction and did a bit of course corrections (and asking for directions) before finding it. Unlike the Uffuzi, finding the correct ticket counter was easy and within minutes we were gazing up at the 17 foot tall David. I had my handy Rick Steves book, which gave some great commentary regarding the amazing sculpture and we wandered around it seeing the intricacies. You can still see the chisel marks where Michelangelo chipped away. It makes me wonder, did he have any idea at the time that we would be gazing at his work 600 years later?
 
It is thought that the pose is prior to David facing Goliath with his sling slung over his shoulder.Rick advised to look from a certain angle, and David's gaze is tentative and not as confident David stood in front of the Palazza Del Vecchio until 1810, before being moved to the Academia. Now, a replica stands in front of the Palazzo, and interestingly, his gaze is a bit different, more confident versus tentative.  

The Academia isn't very big, so our visit was not long. After we headed back to the room for a rest and to begin packing. For dinner we tried to get into several of our hotels recommendations, but it seemed to be the night of packed restaurants. We ended up at Trattoria del Benicia, and enjoyed our last wine, pasta and Florentine atmosphere.  

Our wake-up call was at 3:30am and our taxi was waiting at 4am to take us to our Air Dolomiti flight from Florence to Munich. We were thankful for our first class seats on United, as the flight from Munich to Houston was a lengthy 11.5 hours. The highlight of the flight was watching Monument Men, a movie about the saving of famous art all over Europe during World War 2. After seeing some amazing art this past weekend, it became very real.   

We are now home, facing massive work emails, work travel (Ken is leaving today for Pittsburgh) and freeways. But, we will have amazing memories of the Swiss Alps, Tuscan hills, wonderful travel mates and awesome travel experiences.  

As they say in Italy, Arrivaderci...or, Until We Meet Again.