Firenze

The highlight of our trip to Florence was visiting with old friends, Marghi and Tony. I first became acquainted with Marghi and Tony when I was in school in Florence. Marghi was one of 12 in our program and she met Tony (when we met Tony) selling leather goods in the market. We last saw them on our honeymoon when they took us to the restaurant where they first courted decades ago. Florence has changed even since we were last there only seven years ago. It's full of graffiti, young students, hordes of tourists. But it still offers some of the most important art and architecture and is always worth revisiting.









Dinner at Marghi and Tony. Tony made a delicious Osso Buco.





We did all the usual touristy things in Florence, like climb up the Duomo's dome (almost 400 stairs) to get a view of the city, saw the David and prigione, window shopped on the Ponte Vecchio, visited the stone museum (around the corner from The Accademia) and the San Marco Museum where we visited the cloisters which housed that evil extremist, Savanarola, headed to the shoe museum of Salvatore Ferragamo (really interested and worth it), and the Medici Chapel. Our hotel was the best one I've stayed at in Florence and I would highly recommend it: Hotel Loggiato Dei Serviti in blessedly tranquil Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. Our room in the historic hotel had four large windows opening to the Duomo, the Accademia, a beautiful garden and the hills toward Fiesole. Every morning we'd waken to the Duomo's bells chiming. The Hotel was built in the 16th century is both historic and totally restored. I hated to leave.