Day 4 - Florence and Rome
Our last day in Florence. Sigh. Such a beautiful city. We took a 3 hour walking tour this morning that included the Duomo (4th biggest dome in the world) and innumerable other sites in the city. Some great discussions of the Medici family, the founding of Florence, the growth of the city, wars with Sienna, etc filled a great morning. The walking tour was by Art Viva (www.artvivia.com) and is highly recommended. I thought we'd be late for our train to Rome, but the wife insisted we see another church, Santa Croce. What she didn't mention is that this church holds beautiful memorials to Gallileo, Michaelangelo, Marconi and a number of other Florentine heroes. Honestly, they weren't all Florentine, but if they even worked there for a bit, they got a monument. Anyways, on to Rome!
A quick bullet-train and we arrived in the Eternal City. We had our first taste of "Rip-off-the-tourist" with our cab ride from the station to our B&B. We're staying in an apartment within 100 yds of the Vatican owned by a wonderful woman named Giovanna Ponce de Leon. We had enough time to get relaxed and start to find our way to the Spanish Steps for a twilight tour of Rome's fountains with Through Eternity tours (www.througheternity.com). We ended up taking three tours through them and loved them all. Well worth the money. With a guide and only one other couple on the tour, we basically got a private tour of Rome's more modern piazzas, sculptures and fountains with a stop at the best gelateria in the city. Think I'm lying? All of their night tours stop there and the wife and I ate there every day. 15 flavors of mousse, 40 flavors of gelato and even some crappy soy gelato. Molto Benne. Jen, our tour guide also recommended a few restaurants and we met with the other couple on the tour and ate at Trattoria Antonio. Again, molto benne. Finally a bit of rest before Pompeii!
A quick bullet-train and we arrived in the Eternal City. We had our first taste of "Rip-off-the-tourist" with our cab ride from the station to our B&B. We're staying in an apartment within 100 yds of the Vatican owned by a wonderful woman named Giovanna Ponce de Leon. We had enough time to get relaxed and start to find our way to the Spanish Steps for a twilight tour of Rome's fountains with Through Eternity tours (www.througheternity.com). We ended up taking three tours through them and loved them all. Well worth the money. With a guide and only one other couple on the tour, we basically got a private tour of Rome's more modern piazzas, sculptures and fountains with a stop at the best gelateria in the city. Think I'm lying? All of their night tours stop there and the wife and I ate there every day. 15 flavors of mousse, 40 flavors of gelato and even some crappy soy gelato. Molto Benne. Jen, our tour guide also recommended a few restaurants and we met with the other couple on the tour and ate at Trattoria Antonio. Again, molto benne. Finally a bit of rest before Pompeii!