Operation Cycle Tuscany: Day 2 - Florence

Traveling is the ruin of all happiness! There's no looking at a building after seeing Italy.

                                                                                                               Fanny Burney

A beautiful day in Firenze!  Today, we walked.  After breakfast at the hotel, we walked around this beautiful city.  We walked to the Duomo, and down dozens of beautiful, cobbled streets.  

Giotto's Campanile -- at the Duomo, Firenze, Italy

Our hotel is perfectly located, on Tornabuoni Beacci -- right in the middle of the upscale shopping district.  We went to the Ponte Vecchio, and did some window shopping.  At one point, Chris became engaged in a conversation with a young Ghanan man who was selling some wares (those of you who know Chris will not be terribly surprised at this!).  He was trying to sell her some bracelets, necklaces, elephants, turtles, ... and she was engaging him in conversation.  Eventually, the rest of us had become convinced that she would soon be lured into some human trafficking situation, so Jeanne went out and bargained a 2 Euro ransom to get her away from him!  Chris has been duly warned that this is the last ransom that will be paid for her release!
After Chris' release, we hired a horse & carriage for a tour around the town.  Our driver, Paolo, was very kind and informative, and the tour was fascinating.  Fun!

A carriage ride around Firenze

On to lunch at an outdoor cafe, and then back to the hotel for a brief rest and cooling off (it was 88 degrees and humid today) before we gathered again to walk to the Accademia Gallery for a visit to David.  It was spectacular.  

A little more window shopping, and back to the hotel for drinks on the rooftop dining area.  It had cooled down and was threatening rain, and was beautiful!

A walk to a late dinner in the rain felt like a movie.  After another fabulous meal, we're hunkering down for the night.  What a wonderful city!