It didn't take us more than a few hours to get to Florence, but it is a pretty low key city. Apparently there was a national holiday in Italy, and many shops and places were closed due to that, and it being Sunday.

We did get to see the second of the famous there in Italy, #1 is the Collisium, #2 is the Duomo (huge cathedral) in Florence, and #3 is the
Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Duomo is incredibly colorful with white, greens, and rusty reds and oranges throughout the marble that the building is made of. There are also many pieces of art on the exterior walls.

We also were able to see the replica of the statue of David, to which Narci said "why are there so many naked people everyone wants to see?"

There was an orchestra warming up to play in front of the plaza with the statue, and there were many musicians throughout the city.

As we walked over the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge a really good singer was there, and people were singing along and dancing. The bridge is famous for having jewelry shops built along it, and is beautiful, especially lit up at night. We walked along the bridge just as dusk hit, and it was pretty magical.

We ate at a local hipster hangout, recommended by our hotel clerk. It was good, but they took awhile to acknowledge us, as the restaurant was really a reservations only place. We were shown into a room up a flight of windy stairs. It was perfect to relax, although all of the kids fell asleep before the check came, so we ended up taking a taxi back to our hotel.

Our hotel was a large house that was converted to a hotel, and it was interesting for sure. We got a large family room instead of the two rooms we have been getting and it was a great price break.

In Rome, our hotel was a little crazy. Ultra modern design, but a shower in the bathroom with no walls or curtain, just a long drain on the floor. Well, the drain was way too small for the rain style shower head, and it flooded our room, twice. Narci took the first one, and Jeff thought he must have done something like using the shower wand to dance and sing. I wouldn't put it past him, but it was really just a cool
looking, but doesn't work, style shower.

Luckily, we were in adjoining rooms, so we all showered in the other room. the shower in the other room didn't flood, but it was in a glass enclosure in the middle of the room, so no one could be in there while you showered. We played a lot of room hopping. Adam was sweet and took the kids to breakfast each morning so that we could get ready. Breakfast was the best so far in Rome, with a huge spread of breads, hot food, and all types of juice.

Florence's hotel was burning hot, and we could not seem to get it to cool down. We were on the top floor of this old building. They came up and turned on the general air, but still nada. Adam finally went down and the clerk told him how to turn on the internal ac, it was a rigging system that if you hit everything just right, it worked. Phew, finally some peaceful sleep as the room cooled off.

We were able to score a great parking spot in Florence across from our hotel, so we jumped in the car, headed to Pisa.