Jewel of the Renaissance

After a late night send off to our Italian friends, we woke to have a late breakfast which is just as well as the weather was an off and on light rain. Then it was time to load the buses (again) and off to Firenze (Florence, which is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance). The three hour drive took us through the mountains, by hill-top towns and olive groves. Once we arrived in Firenze it was straight to the Galleria Dell'Accademia which houses Michelangelo's "David". Another brilliant sculpture out of a single piece of marble. We then departed on a walking tour of the center of Firenze which included the massive domed cathedral called Santa Maria del Fiore or the Duomo. This is an amazing piece of Florentine architecture. We then broke free for a couple of hours to roam the many shops, restaurants and markets in the city centre. Some great buys can be had here if you are a skilled bargainer. We then boarded the buses and set off to our hotel for the evening. In the same grandeur of the sculpture we had just seen, the Michelangelo hotel lived up to it's name. The best hotel yet and they fed us a wonderful Florentine styled steak with risotto. After the meal there was a couple of hours of down time then off to bed for another day in Firenze.