My aching feet. But I love Florence!

FIRENZE! Also known as Florence. :) Can you say awesome? Cause this city is everything and more. Nothing beats the Duomo, shopping, gelato, museums, gardens, statues, the Ponte Vecchio, leather shops, mass in Italian, and climbing 450 stairs to see the entire city of Florence.  I'll start with that last one. Climbing the stairs. Wowwwwww. Anyone claustrophobic should steer clear. Anyone without claustrophobia and 2 functioning legs should walk those stairs knowing that they will see a most GORGEOUS view of Florence.  I didn't know that my thighs could burn so much or I could feel so out of breath. But what really took my breath away was the view at the top of the campanile. I was above the Duomo and looking out over tile roofs and busy squares. It was quiet and the breeze was steadily blowing over the top of the tower as I was looking at the mountains and the square below. Amazing. I took lots of pictures before descending all 450 stairs again.  Side note--I apologize for the lack of posting anything yesterday. I was so exhaust from traveling from Lido di Jesolo (the Adriatic beach town near Venice) and I just couldn't stay awake to write. Yesterday wee took a walking tour of Florence and saw the Ponte Vecchio before heading 45 minutes outside the city to a suburb where our hotel is. The Ponte Vecchio is a brige with shops that all sell gold. The shops hang ov the edge of the bridge and look like houses (where people used to actually live and some still do). It's quite a sight--google it! Today after climbing the tower, we walked across Florence to the Pitiful Palace, which is home to the gardens of a many dukes. After so much walking, it was hard to stay on our feet. All I really wanted was to take part in the Firenze wine tasting festive happening in the palace square. PER FAVORE. But we had a tight schedule. After 2 hours exploring the palace and gardens (similar to Versailles) we walk to get gelato at Vivoli! It's a world famous gelato shop near the leather factory, and for 3€ for a big scoop, it was the perfect treat after so much walking. I got coffee and chocolate. Yummy yummy!  Then we headed to the outdoor market, where I made some purchases and bargained my way to affordable prices. Pretty proud of myself on that one! Bought some earrings and gifts. W didn't have too much time there causes we had to meet with our guide, Antonio, by the Duomo to walk to dinner, which was also clear across town. So we just did a lot of walking across Florence. So now I know the city well, and look forward to visiting it again! (oh, and dinner was tasty.) This hotel is a definite improvement from the last. The rooms have high ceilings and balconies, and the TV has more than 3 stations. Last night I watched the Cosby show in Italian. I can cross that off my bucket list...? The staff is also very kind here, which was not the case before. I will miss staying here, seeing as that we are going to a completely different kind of accommodation tomorrow. Which is... A convent.  Yes.  A convent.  With nuns.  Wow.  But actually, I'm really looking forward to it, and apparently they are too. It won't have internet (so I might not be able to post the blog until I get home) but they will cook us dinner and have us in by 11:00pm. They might even invite us to daily mass! (we went to mass today by the way. At the holy cross church in Florence. How fitting! It was in Italian, but beautiful nonetheless).  So that's what's up for now. Hope everyone is well back in the US. Pray for us! Off to Assisi tomorrow on our way to Rome. Cannot WAIT! Buona Notte!