We landed on Saturday evening and caught a taxi to our apartment. We met our airbnb host Saed and he showed us around the apartment. It's a very Italian beautiful apartment. It was about 10 by now but the neighborhood was still buzzing so we walked around the block to a pizzeria (ghibillini) that has been recommended by Saed. It was delicious pizza - great atmosphere sitting under the stars in a buzzy Florence piazza - a fantastic intro into Italian life. The next morning was Sunday. As it was a late night we had a bit of a sleep in. A quick breakfast and espresso and we put on our walking shoes and walked around the neighborhood. We are staying close to the duomo so we walked around there first. It was a really packed day as their was a fun run on and it seemed everyone in Florence was running  in it. We walked past the Uffizi gallery (very busy lines) along the Arno. I had read about a famous gelato shop (la careira) so we popped in there for a mid morning gelato (the salted peanut and coconut were amazing). We then walked over into the other side of the Arno around the Pitti Palace. It was getting warm and the kids (Campbell) were flagging so we wandered back over the Ponte vechio (incredible jewellery shops) to our neighborhood and had lunch at the same restaurant as last night (crostini ala fiorentina was delicious) before having a siesta at the apartment. Later in the afternoon we walked around the shops and streets before we found a little terrace in front of a boutique hotel (JK place) in piazza Santa Maria novella. It was lovely to sit with a glass of wine in hand and watch the people go by as the sun set low in the sky. That evening we went to a great trattoria (trattoria loriole) - delicious pasta made by nonna washed down with a montepilcinao - outstanding. We wandered home through the quieter streets - fiorentina was playing intermilan that evening - we'd hoped to watch in on TV but they didn't show it on free to air TV. Back at the apartment we crashed into bed. The next day was Monday (most museums are closed on Monday) so it was a day to shop. A quick pastry and espresso and we were on our way to Parione, a lovely paper shop - the kids bought some journals with their money and then we walked on to the Centro Mercale (via Bennetob for some kids clothes). The central market was fantastic. Lots of delicious food and wine (amazing porchini mushrooms and bistecca ala fiorentina). Upstairs is a "food court" as such - the kids and I had a panini and Leigh had a delicious bruschetta - the tomatoes are in hyper colour! The kids got a make your own giant cannoli which they loved then we walked out way down to the il bisonte shop. This is the main shop in the word and Leigh and I were in heaven (the kids less so). We could have bought the shop but settled on a belt and wallet for me and a beautiful bag and wallet for Leigh. Very happy with our purchases we walked back to the apartment for some downtime. After a siesta it was time for a good walk so we crossed the river and walked up to the piazza Michelangelo for the best view of Florence. (After some more gelato from our favourite gelateria - this time hazelnut won the prize!) It was a good walk and made the view even more impressive. We walked a little further higher to the church of Santa Croce where the view was even better! We walked back into town to a restaurant recommended by one of Leigh's MBA friends - trattoria al trebbo. A very lovely dinner - spencer had in his opinion, the best lasagne in the world and Leigh and I had the house special (bistecca ala fiorentina) the steak was enormous - very rare but delicious. Suitably stuffed we wandered back through the streets and ready for bed. There is a very chic bar in the courtyard under our apartment so we made sure the kids were ok (they could see us at the bar from our window) we went down for a night cap. A delicious negroni (best ever) and some salty chips with Nutella (yummy) and then off to bed. The next day - Tuesday - was our last day in Florence. To the sound of the church bells it was our last chance to get tickets to the Academia. The kids were still very sleepy so I headed off at 8 to get into line. Definitely not the first person to think this there was already a decent que when I arrived. The line moved slowly but by 9 Leigh and the kids had arrived and we were ready to go in. The Accademia has some Renaissance painting in it however everyone is there to see Michelanglos David. What a stunning piece of marble - fascinating to see up close the stone in David's hand, the lower tree on his back legs to give the sculpture more support. I really enjoyed the other room with the plaster models ready to be made into marble. The kids were flagging and we need to get back to the apartment to clean up so we wandered back via the creperie. A quick clean up and check out and we were back on the streets for some panini for the train. We trudged our bags across town to the staiozone de Santa Maria Novella to wait for our train to Rome. Alas our train was delayed 70 mins (isn't there a saying about trains running on time in Italy?) we waited with all the others then got on an earlier train but with no seats - we scrambled on to the train and luckily the kids and Leigh got seats and I sat on the luggage.