Thursday- We left our Rome suites at 7:30 with our luggage (carry-on only- recommended!) and stopped at an outdoor cafe for an "International" breakfast: omelet, coffee, juice, croissant, bacon and toast. Very good, quick and reasonably priced. We walked to the train station and got on the Italo train to Florence at 8:55 a.m. Maximum 147 MPH. A very comfortable scenic ride once we left Rome: olive groves, vineyards, farms.
We arrived in Florence at 10:45 and walked about two blocks to Palazzo Gamba Apartment to drop our bags. Our apartment is two bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, and a living room/kitchen with a dining table. Very nice, quiet and clean. Great location right in town near the Duomo, train station, and all the sights we wanted to see.
We walked around town for a bit, then went to the Uffizi Gallery for our 1:30 reserved entry. We stayed 2 hours- it's filled with many statues and really old paintings, mostly religious based subjects.
It started to rain, so we stopped at Menchetti's to have a drink and got free bruschetta. Back to the apartment to rest before heading out to dinner around 7. Fewer people were out than this afternoon, but a lot of the restaurants were full. We ate dinner at Roberto's, a small family restaurant on a side street where they didn't speak English. I had a very good salad with a mixed seafood platter (clams, shrimp, fish) on rice. Kirk had salad and ravioli with meat sauce. A good meal at a good price.
Baptistery in Florence 
Duomo (church) in Florence
Friday- We stopped for coffee/croissant on our way to the bus station to meet our Walkabout Tuscany tour group. A group of 40 rode to Siena, where we visited the gorgeous cathedral with tons of marble everywhere- and "private" altars for rich patrons.
We went to the town square in Siena where the Paleo horse race is held every July and August (10 horses at a time on a clay track race around the square)- over 17K spectators watch. It is a fierce rivalry between city districts- with bragging rights to the winning district. We had some free time to walk around the very hilly but cute village before our next stop.
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| City Hall clock tower |
After lunch we went into San Gimignano where we had free time to walk around the very steep streets- we saw a wooden model of the town showing the towers that were built to protect families during medieval times. We forgot to go into one of the existing towers. Darn!
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| Chocolate fountain in store window |
We had some gelato then took the bus to Pisa where we walked to the center (Piazza del Duomo) where the leaning tower, church and baptistery were located.
We were not able to get into the buildings (too late in the day) so we had some drinks at a cafe where we got free pizza and bruschetta. We took the bus back to Florence, played cards until 11 or so. Long day- 13 hour tour but so worth it!
Saturday- After coffee and pastries we walked to Galleria Accademia for our pre-booked 8:30 timed entry. No wait, and a good time to go, as it was not crowded yet. We headed right away to see the statue of David - 7 feet tall and quite impressive to see in person.
The rest of the museum was religious paintings, altar pieces and sculptures like we saw at the Uffizi. We spent an hour there, dropped off our jackets at the apt. and walked south towards Ponte Vecchio- a covered bridge with jewelry shops.
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| Ponte Vecchio |
We walked around the Oltrarno (south of the Arno River) and worked our way around Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace (took a break in the park) then walked uphill a long way to the (almost) top of the hill where we stopped at La Terrazza Del Principe Ristorante for a much needed drink.
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| Very tall doors in old city wall |
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| Very small hardware store! |
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| Meat Market |
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| Sandwich shop |
Then we continued walking another 40 minutes on a shaded sidewalk to Piazzale Michelangelo overlooking Florence. Lots of people and vendors- we did not stay long but there was a nice view.
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| View of Florence- photo from link above |
We walked down the hill via ramps and stairs back to city level where we stopped for a beer and sandwich at a small bistro. Then we walked back to the apartment through the quieter back streets. Would have liked to see the inside of the duomo and baptistery, but the lines were long all day. We had dinner at Taverna di Servi where our server messed up (language barrier?) and Kirk and Larry never got their entrees. It was a nice place with good food, but the service was lacking. It seemed like the locals got better service.
Florence was lovely, although crowded with tourists (like us). We think three days here (one taking the Tuscany bus tour) was long enough.
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