under the tuscan sun

Tuscan countryside

sunflowers!

leaning tower

wine tasting

view from Ponte Vecchio Bridge

Florence was relaxing.  When we arrived we saw the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio Bridge, which is the most famous bridge of Florence.  There is also a special corridor above for the Medici family.  We strolled over and stopped to have some gelato, stratiacello, which is vanilla with chocolate chips, yummy!  Later that night, we went to dinner in a square by our hotel and had some risotto. 

One of the highlights of our trip was our excursion to Tuscany for wine tasting.  We went to a castle and tasted some Chianti wine and complimentary snacks.  It was really tasty!  

The next, and last day, we took a trip to Pisa to try to fix the leaning tower.  We were unsuccessful, but we had a fun time!

Overall, Florence wasn't one of our favorites.  Although the countryside, mountains, cypress tress, and vineyards are amazingly beautiful.  Florence seems to fall a little bit short as a city.  It has character, but most of it is covered in graffiti and guidos.  

And although we love, LOVE Italian food, we grew a little weary of it and wanted some American food. McDonalds to save the day, with curly fries too! ahhh