On to Florence

We are back on the road for Pisa. We have to skirt Florence. Should we dump the car in Florence? Screw the tower, does it really even lean? Let’s give it a shot. How hard can it be to drive in Florence? How out of the way is the airport?
To answer both of those questions, hard and not well marked. We drive in circles. Every corner a new sign and arrow for the airport. We are not even sure we can leave the car here instead of Pisa. Well we know we can but what is the cost in Euros? HHMMM. Finally the Aeroporto. We find Hertz, park and the guys run in to check with the Hertz desk. We are in luck; "In training" is on the job. No problem, yes no problem, of course, no problem. Not sure what our new bill will be, but he has customer service down.

We grab the shuttle to bus station. We should be checked into the Hotel Liberty in no time. Grab the D bus, and jump off at the end of the line. What a lovely stroll. Then we go up and we walk and we walk and we walk. Are we in the right place? Where in the hell is hotel liberty? Can we stop at the Italian Country Club for a Birra? Damn are we lost? No such worry. We finally find it. We walked completely up a hill to come down and around. We are a couple minutes walk from edge of town. Great location, lovely hotel. The rooms and bathrooms are huge.

Quick Shower and change of clothes and get settled in. We are off to explore Florence. There is enough stuff in Florence that you could spend weeks looking around the place - our time here will give us a good taste of the place. We walk over to the Uffizi. What no line, you can go right in, they close in just under 2 hours. Worth the try. Let’s go in. The Uffizi has a pretty amazing collection of Renaissance art. Of course everyone flocks to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus, which of course was pretty surreal to be standing in front of the original. As Rob put it, Boticelli kicks Michaelangelos ass. But there was must more to be seen. Room after room, gallery after gallery showcasing some of Medici's former private collection. Almost two hours later, what a great experience.

We continue to walk the streets and take in the tourist sites as well. I hate to say it but you have to do the bridge at least once.

We grab dinner and more vino and we know that we will have a lot to take in the next couple of days. We welcome it.