We ARE in Italy!

Steven and I have enjoyed every moment of this trip, however we have been waiting for that moment to hit us that lets us know we are in Italy. Today, just that happened. Florence by far is our favorite city so far. Florence truly is all the things everyone thinks about Italy. We moved past ancient Rome and found we are in the romantic/artisan life of Italy. To walk through the squares in Florence and see all the artisans painting brought it all around.

To back track some, this morning we made our way via train from Rome to Florence. We had a wonderful ride sitting beside two ladies from Australia. We traded travel war stories. During these war stories we all learned what to avoid. Their advice to us:
1. Make sure you validate your train ticket in the "little yellow machine" before you get on the train. Even if you have purchased them in advance and the company mailed you a physical ticket (of which that is what we did). Result of not validating your ticket in the "little yellow machine" = a fifty euro fine for not having the stamp. Needless to say we got this advice after leaving the station. However, we avoided the fine.
2. When eating outside make sure you eat under a covering. So Steven and I were shaking our heads on this one, as there have been rain showers for brief parts of the day throughout the week. OH NO, when eating outside one of the ladies learned that bird poo finds its way out of the sky right on your plate. And that is exactly what happened one night while she was eating.
Our advice to them:
1. DO NOT use the pay phones. So...remember the driver at the airport never showed to pick Steven and I up. Well I found the nearest pay phone and saw I could use my card to place a call for 0.60c a minute. PERFECT, right? I made two talking to the company about the driver not showing. Cost per call as per the charge on the credit card as of now = $53.84 per call. Yes that would be over $100 for a total of 4 or 5 minutes trying to reach the driver. I knew to arrange for a cell phone.

As you can tell, they won the war with story number two. However, it was a blast talking to them throughout the ride. I am sure they are somewhere back in Rome now having a beer laughing.

Sites of the day:
David at the Galleria dell Academia. No need to say much about seeing David by Michelangelo. Bonnie you are correct...the best seats are in the back. I need not say anymore.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore where we walked to the top of the Dome and saw the most amazing view of the city. To make it well know of the effort for this to happen, there are no lifts and there are 463 steps that you wind your way up to the top. See one of the posted pics for the view.

Ponte Vecchio, or old bridge. This is the picture of the day with the post. We loved walking over the bridge and just taking in the scenes.

Tomorrow we are off to Cinque Terre to hike the five villages. Uhhhh who thought of this? 12 hours hiking.