FLORENCE, Italy

Showered and got ready to catch a boat to the train station, where we would take the train to Florence.

A great way to travel in Italy.  The train is very nice - roomy, great seats, comfortable and fast.

Our hotel room in Florence. We always had two twin beds put together, which I preferred and loved.  Del and I both noticed the beds are harder in Italy and we liked them.

Ours was a 5 star hotel.

Outdoor butcher market.

We noticed immediately the differences of Venice and Florence - transportation.  There are streets, motorcycles, or scooters, as they call them, and cars.

one f the MANY beautiful churches we entered.  This one happened to have an organist playing that attracted me to it specifically.

One of the MANY many shops along the streets.  This is a wine store - they have bread stores, meat stores etc.  But this one was especially pretty.

The famous 'David' by Michaelangelo.

We found this Lindor chocolate store.  They have a factory there in Florence.  I was happy.

Early evening on one of the main streets in Florence.  Much like a Rodeo Drive in Hollywood.

Our salad and bread before the main meal.

Our dinner.  Probably the best meal we had in Italy. Mine was the spinach stuffed Cannolli on the left, and Del's was a stuffed pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce.

And the restaurant was adorable.

Heading out of our hotel for a day of sightseeing in Florence.

Up on a gorgeous hill overlooking the city of Florence.

They were everywhere.  Every city we went to, the police were the first things I would see!

Our 'Hop On, Hop Off' tour bus for the day.

We had great seats and it was easy to see the sights and get off anytime we wanted, and then back on when were done seeing a certain thing.

These Italian nuns had just came from a beautiful church in the city.

Olive tree grove at this Italian mansion.

Local street signs.

Typical apartment living

Book and introduction to BoBeli Gardens.  I thought it would be flowers etc.  Nope - it was manicured trees, bushes and a LOT of famous statues throughout the ACRES and ACRES of gardens.

Just trying to add some humor to the walk.

Rows and rows of these massive trees.

I see four statues.

This statue was having a hard time staying in place.

This was a huge open amphitheater with statues from thousands of years ago.

These trees made the most lovely arch for about a 1/4 of a mile.

Can you SEE the Smart car parked in between the scooter???

Streets and streets of shops and parked bikes.

A local cobbler.  I thought his shop was adorable, so I asked him if I could take a picture.

Our restaurant for dinner.

SHOES, SHOES, SHOES.  Every other store was shoes.

Florence is known for it's leather.  This could be my only regret of Being in Florence - not buying a leather purse.

This was a typical gelato store.  We fell in love with it, just as do most tourists!!