Under The Tuscan Sun

Today is Day 4 in Italy and today we head to Florence.

Florence is a city in the region of Tuscany.

Our train ride was about an hour and a half and to help pass the time away we had a small bottle of wine with our conversation and sightseeing from the train window.

 Once we arrived in Florence we found a taxi to take us to our hotel....The Hotel Regency,

It was a really nice hotel (as was the one in Rome) the hotel sat back away from everything...it was in a quite area.

Once we arrived our room wasn't ready...it was suppose to be ready at 2 and it was 2:30...so we had a glass of wine and waited about 30 minutes.

Once in our room we unpacked just a little and got ready to head into town and check out Florence.

We had the map...as you can see below Lonnie had the map and she was gonna be the navigator...

 NOT!!!!!

We got a couple blocks from the hotel and it was obvious Lonnie wasn't sure where we were going or what the direction was (sorry cuz)....those who know me very well know I don't do maps...I don't listen when someone gives me directions, I expect who I'm with to take care of all that...so I took over the map, which was a very BIG deal.

It took me a minute to figure it out, their streets run differently and every block has a different name....but I got it figured out and we were on our way.

I'm The Map! I'm The Navigator! I'm The Bomb!

 Above is just one of the many streets we went down...some their were shop vendors...some with restaurants and some with both....lovely quaint streets.

Below is The Arno River and The Ponte Vecchio

which means Old Bridge.

This was the destination we were aiming for when we left our hotel and I found it.

I Rock! (sorry...you just don't know what a big deal that was).

 And below is what the bridge looks like when your in the middle crossing over....shops galore...all kinds of jewelry...mostly gold....and leather products too.

It was a really nice place.

 we found a side street and stopped and had a late lunch early dinner and of course our drink of choice...a bottle of wine. I don't have pictures to share cause obviously I didn't take any so they are on Lonnie's pictures which I haven't received yet.

After we ate we started to walk and shop. We stopped in a pastry cafe that also sold wine and limeoncello....I had to buy some...I had a limeoncello at lunch and man that stuff is strong but it's very popular in that region.

In the shop there was a nice friendly man who got his flirt on with Lonnie....nice guy...he wanted to take her home but I said she couldn't leave me unless he had a brother...he said he had a friend.

So...did we go??? I'll never tell...

 On many of our walks you would come to a square area and or church area and people would just be sitting and relaxing and drinking water and taking their breaks....I liked taking my breaks at a table with some wine.

 Here we are in front of the statue Neptune...Roman God of the Sea

below is a copy of Michelangelo's famous statue David...we could of seen the original if we would of paid to go inside the building it was in....something we were not in the mood to do....go into any museums....we did that at The Vatican in Rome.

 and below is the statue Hercules and Cacus

after our sightseeing we made it back to the hotel thanks to our trusted guide Robin (who by the way rocks...lol)

Tomorrow we head out on a fabulous day trip...

Until then....Arrivederci (Until We Meet Again)