Santa Maria del Fiore

          Once again, the day started bright and early, this time with a 2 hour bus ride to Florence (we were told it was going to be an hour and 15 min, they need to get better about predicting this timing apparently). Thank goodness for my neck pillow so I could sleep on the bus! Once we arrived, we hit the ground running with quick stop at a pasteria for a pastry and coffee and tour of the Uffizi (one of the main museums in Florence). After lunch, we went over to the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, its baptistery, and its museum. It was incredible! The Cathedral was hands down my favorite. The mixture of old and new in Europe is amazing to see. We would be walking down the street by stores such as Gucci, Prada, and Armani, then turn the corner and there is the Cathedral. I hear it gets even crazier in Rome.

            When we got done for the day, we were able to check into our hotel and rest up a bit before dinner. Dinner was included for us at a restaurant across the street from out hotel. I’m pretty sure the restaurant tried to serve us their version of American food, which consisted of pasta, potatoes, and meat. Nice attempt, but not really.