Florence.

Florence

Day 10

We arrived in Florence mid afternoon after a short train ride from Venice. We had our directions in hand to the hotel, so we purchased bus tickets and hopped on the bus to get to our off the map hotel. Google said to get off at Galileo 3, after 1 we pulled the stop signal, the bus stopped at Galileo 5 instead, we thought maybe the driver was trying to help us out as google said the hotel was between 3 and 5. We got out and walked back to 3, and found nothing. We were on the side of a hill that overlooked the city. It was a road on a hill with thankfully a  sidewalk and nothing else. We were lost. There were no buildings let alone a hotel. We found another set of tourists who spoke english and had a map that we asked for help, but their map was the same as ours and therefore not much help. We then came across a little old Italian man who spoke no English, but spoke to us like we knew exactly what was going on. He pointed in the direction he was walking and then just continued on his way. We figured we would follow him and hoped that he was leading us towards where we were going. We don't know if it was intentional, but as a result we found it, and in the end it was supposed to be Galileo 1.

So we had been using Hotwire to book all of our hotels, Paris was wonderful, Venice was the worst but a great location and Florence was our favourite. We stayed at Park Palace and will give it endless praise. The hotel was more like an old Italian mansion, think a fancy Under the Tuscan Sun type house. It was huge and old and much more a bed and breakfast than a hotel. There was even a pool (although closed because it was fall) and the staff were so helpful. They helped us with out bags (side note: So thankful for moments like getting lost that our backpacks were so comfortable and we didn't even mind carrying them for long distances.) and took us out of the main building to a smaller back building. Here we were shown our junior suite, yes junior suite for dirt cheap, thank you Hotwire. This hotel was over and above our expectations and it just got better and better. So as a result of getting lost and such it was close to dinner and we decided to put off our original plan of going up the Duomo of the Florence Cathedral tonight. So we went to get information from the front desk about how to get downtown and how to get back and such. There we find out that the next day (Saturday) was a religious holiday (All-Saints Day) and all churches and some stores and will be closed, then also on Sunday's churches are also closed. That being said, we already had tickets for the Duomo, so we had to use them that night. So we walked into the heart of the town (down a little one way street with high garden walls on either side, it became one of our favourite parts of our day sin Florence). So we waited in line at the Duomo in hopes to make it up to the top before it closed. We did and got to see a unique view of the city at night. This is also the moment (after we climbed over 400 stairs) that I found out Brent was afraid of heights. He stayed near the wall the entire time. After climbing to the top of the Duomo, we then visited the Treasury before it closed. After we wondered the streets found some not good pizza and enjoyed watching the few handfuls of kids dressed up for halloween. We then ended the night with gelato for the bus ride back to the hotel.

On our way up the Doamo

Inside the Doamo. 

Florence Cathedral - we climbed all the way to that top point.

Day 11 

So due to the location of the hotel being on a hill, they recommended walking to town, but taking the bus back and the hotel front desk sold bus tickets, so that morning we woke up early to hit the town and went to buy bus tickets. The lady there then asked if we had enjoyed breakfast, we explained we didn't have any here and would buy something in town. She then went on to explain that it was FREE and was going on for another hour. We therefore clearly changed out game plan and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. There were cheese and meat and fruit and pastries galore. I am hungry just thinking about it. After breakfast we did not have anything planned until our Uffizi tickets at 12:15. So we wondered the streets, visiting a few churches that were still open, shopping in the leather markets, seeing some famous squares. We then picked up our Uffizi tickets and sat outside the museum watching the line up of people who did not have advanced tickets. If you are ever in Florence and want to do either of the main museums it is 100% worth having a ticket. The line up was HUGE! and they only let so many people in per hour, so it really wasn't moving. For those of us with our tickets however the fact that the number of people was limited was actually really nice since it meant we could enjoy the museum without it being too crowded. I purchased our tickets the day before we left Canada and at that time, over two weeks prior 12:15 were the earliest in the day tickets we could purchase. So we took our time and enjoyed the museum. By this part of the trip, actually probably by Paris, we were museumed out, so this was the only one we saw when in Florence, but it was worth it.
After Uffizi we had planned to do a late lunch at a sandwich shop Brent had found in the guide book. It was under the cent category (meaning cheapest), and it was close to where we currently were. So when we exited Uffizi right away we started to see people with sandwiches. They looked awesome. We then turned the corner and there were two huge lines, one on either side of the street. Turns out this sandwich shop had two locations, the one side had some inside seating, and the other was take and go. It was a wonderful food experience. As we were standing in line we heard people talking about just how good the sandwiches are, and if you know Brent he is a sandwich machine, so this was epic. So we waited and waited, we saw a guy get pooped on by a bird, we saw fresh hot bread carried across the street and we waited some more. Then our time came. They had a few Italian words written on a small chalk board and the English beside it, all I could understand was prosciutto, so I went with it. Brent ordered first, his looked wonderful so I said I would have the same, I am not a risk taker with my food. The I was told no. The thick accented Italian guy told me I could not have the same, so he was going to give me some sort of olive paste, I said no, he suggested artichoke, I again said no, the man beside him said tomato and arugula, and I said yes (clearly a foreigner, hardest transaction ever). He then proceeded to make an epic sandwhich it had three kinds of cheese and two meats and yumm! Oh and not to mention this place also had self serve wine, where you pay 2 euro and get a cup and help yourself. We were happy.
So we took our sandwiches to go and decided to make our way up to Piazza de Michelangelo. It was a nice walk up the hill and so worth the effort as the view was spectacular. It was a lookout over the entire city with a replica statue of Michelangelo's David. We had fun taking pictures and enjoying the view. We then made our way down and attempted to visit a food market that Brent had read about online. Sadly it had closed a few minutes before we got there, however since Brent has this sixth sense, we were able to stumble upon a beer fest instead. There were a variety of interesting vendors, lots of food and beer. We then again ended the night with gelato for the bus ride back to the hotel.

FREE breakfast. It was SO good.

Visiting some churches.

The water and city layout was so cool.

The Coke Light was not good. 

So glad we booked out Uffizi tickets ahead of time (the morning before we left).

At Uffizi.

Best Sandwhiches EVER! 

Top of Piazzale Michelangelo. 

Top of Piazzale Michelangelo.

Better view of the Duomo.

Beer fest.

Day 12

That morning we woke up early to pack, eat another wonderful breakfast and head to the train station. The train ride was beautiful (I think Venice to Florence also was, but I slept).

Leaving out wonderful hotel. The building in front is the main building.

Waiting for the bus.