Take the last train to Florence...

Well not the LAST train, but a train nonetheless...

It's Monday, July 18th in Rome, so that means:

The train leaves at 11:45AM today bound for Florence. We should arrive around 1:30PM, and we'll grab a taxi for a 10 minute drive to our hotel - HOTEL BERNINI!

Today is "Getting to know Florence Day" so it'll be fairly low-key. IF we feel like it, we'll hit up the Duomo and climb to the top of the dome to view the city. More later...

Leaving our hotel in Rome:

Our train:

OK - we actually arrived in Firenze 45 minutes early! It was a smooth luxurious even, ride over from Roma - a nice scenic ride. We hopped off the train, hailed a taxi and in no time we were checking into our hotel.

Florence is jam-packed with people - much more bustling than Rome. It's dramatically smaller than Rome, so when you add the month of July (peak tourist season) it's a little crazy. Good news is that there is a nice breeze always, and it's in the low 80s with low humidity, so for Atlanta residents it's HEAVEN!

Of course we were hungry, as usual, so we headed out from the hotel and found the most quaint cafe to stop and enjoy a bite.

Mel Gibson's (less attractive) cousin was our server:

*Can you say "Christmas Card Photo?"

Then we set out on foot to explore the area - 2 hours later we were back at the hotel, totally pooped! A couple of us (no names) began a decent in the familial ranking system after a search for Vivoli ended up (hilarious actually) being right in front of us. But we got through it.

 And yes, Ross has had it with my constant picture taking...but it's quite picturesque looking over the Arno at the Ponte Vecchio. Just beautiful.

Caroline totally unafraid to ask help with directions from the newsstand guy:

Now we're resting up for a meal later at Cafe Coquinarious. More on that later..

One thing we do know for sure - - - the Bogues are really not cut out for organized touring. The 4 hour tour of the Vatican with Mary as our guide was truly amazing, awe inspiring etc., but it just about killed us! Tomorrow I'm a bit worried. We have an 8:15AM appointment with "David" (in all his glory, wink, wink, ; ), and then, we move on to the world famous Uffizi Gallery (definitely a top 5 art gallery of the world) for a 1 1/2 hour guided tour. OH NO!!! I'm hoping we can do it at this point. Ross has already said he's bugging out - but he won't. We'll do it, and we'll enjoy it. *%^$#

But...day 5 of the trip is here, and we have not had much down time. Tomorrow is
Art Day for the BOGUES,
then we hook up with my wonderful cousin, Kriss, and the pace slows down dramatically.

Cafe Coquinarious - perhaps our favorite meal to date!

Our waiter was Ryan Luce (or at least his clone), and he was fantastic - treated us like we were the only ones in the restaurant, which only housed about 10 tables. You have to book way in advance to get a seat, and we watched as they turned away people all night. We were very fortunate to have dined there and experienced such good food, wine and ambiance.

And naturally, a stop for gelato as we walk back to our hotel...