Our time in Florence was super brief.  We arrived on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon and left the following wet and soggy afternoon.  Of all the hotels we stayed in during our trip, the one in Florence was our favorite, the Antica Torre Di Via Tornabuoni.  It was in the historic center and the terrace had incredible views of the duomo and Giotto's tower.  We even had our own private patio! We took advantage of the blue skies when we arrived and got some awesome pictures of the view.  We then headed straight to the tower and the duomo to climb to the top of both.  We were lucky the clouds rolled in somewhat slowly......

After the views, we visited the baptistry and then meandered through the streets, Ponte Vecchio and stumbled upon a most delicious dinner.  We ate at the Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco and stuffed ourselves with one of our most memorable dinners in Italy (bistecca fiorentina).  Lee was in heaven.  :) We learned our first night in Italy how much we liked wandering the streets at night and seeing the churches and the piazzas all lit up.  So, we made sure to visit the piazza del duomo our one night there before returning to the hotel to soak in more night views from the terrace.  It was perfect!

Unfortunately, we woke up to rain the next morning and as the day progressed, the rain came all the harder.   Our first stop was the Accademia to see the statue of David.  I've always loved that amazing piece of art and was thrilled to be able to see it again.  We were disappointed though that no cameras are allowed, just one of the many things that has changed in the last 20 years.  We then visited the interior of the duomo and then each of the basilicas.  Even though we spent plenty of time indoors, the sheets of rain in between stops had us soaked to the skin.  Finally, at 4pm we called it a day, changed our clothes and headed to Rome.

Our time there was short, but it was our favorite night in Italy.  We definitely want to go back and stay in that hotel again! Pictures are in the gallery.