Florence is a Renaissance city full of history! We had two days with our local tour guide, Paulo, walking the city, visiting museums and galleries, and churches.  We learned all about the history of the Medici family and their incredible wealth of art and family dynamics. On our free time we visited saw more museums and churches including the Baptistery, wandered across the Arno River checking out all the jewelry shops on the Ponte Vecchio and visited the Pitti Palace.

We had two wonderful dinners here in Florence. Our group meal was in a small restaurant off the beaten path.  Daniella has been here many times and the owner/chef came out to greet us! We were taken well cared of by the staff and the food was wonderful!

Main Course

Bistecca alla Fiorentina: A famous Tuscan specialty, this is a thick-cut T-bone steak seasoned simply with salt, grilled over a wood fire, and typically served rare to medium-rare. One word.....incredible.  You need to share this with someone else....maybe 2 or 3 others.

Pisa is a small community. As you walk up to the entrance there is a wall on the left and both sides of the street are filled with vendors of all kinds.   As you walk through the entrance the leaning tower of Pisa is at the far end of "the Field of Miracles". Here you will also be able to visit the Duomo, which is absolutely beautiful, the camposanto, the baptistry and the Duomo museum. The day we were there was not too crowded, so we were able to see everything easily.  We walked into the small-town area across from the Duomo Museum and to find sandwiches for lunch.  Then we were back on the bus for our final destination, Cinque Terre!!!!