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All three days in Florence have greeted us with sunshine and warmth. Quite something for this time of year. The weather has been amazingly comfortable and has certainly contributed to wonderful photographs. Don’t forget to link into our Flickr page to see all the photos. Link is on the front page of boutiquetravel.net Not only are the cities and towns in Tuscany beautiful, but the sunny days have illuminated all.

The Travel Agents were hard at work Friday morning with 5 hotel inspections lined up by our Italian partner, Elisabetta. We had a selection of really wonderful hotels to inspect that were well located in the center of the old City. Each hotel had a charm of its own, from the boutique chic Santa Maria Novella Hotel to the elegant designer, J.K. Place Hotel and the ever-changing art gallery that is the Hotel Gallery of Art. And let’s not forget the Hotel de la Ville where we were spoiled by the beautiful jr suite we slept in and the excellent service and warm welcoming we felt during our stay. We could easily imagine how each hotel will fit with our extensive client base.

Friday afternoon’s excursion was to the Tuscan town of Pisa. Famous for the Leaning Tower, we were happily surprised to find four lilting architectural works of art in the Piazza dei Miracoli (square of miracles). The interior of the Duomo was quite different than those we’ve visited in Milan and Florence and Ellen was particular taken aback by the fantastic mosaic and gorgeous stained glass. Not only is the Tower an exquisite design of marble and incredible architecture, but it really does lean…a lot…more than imagined. The four buildings in the Piazza present a breathtaking scene.

Upon our return to Florence, we headed out for what will go down as one of our favorite dining experiences! Our friend Francis had told us about this restaurant called Trattoria Angiolino, famous for their rather large and very tasty Florentine steaks. How could we resist. With all eyes on us, this enormous piece of meat arrived at our table. in true showmanship, the waiter started carving it up and presented it to us as a sort of masterpiece on the plate. Accompanied by a great bottle of vino rosso, we savored every moment.

As we reflect back on our 3 days in Florence, the thing that stands out is how easy it is to walk around and find all the important landmarks and points of interest. Walking the streets, bumping into visitors from every corner of the world, you understand why Florence is one of the most visited cities.

Back to Cremona today, and so our train adventures begin again….