FIRENZE: DAY OF ARRIVAL

After our short stay in Verona our next destination was Florence. We planned to stay in this city for 3 full days as there is much to see and do there.

These are some shots from our drive

It took us about 3 hours to drive from Verona through a beautiful mountainous terrain into Florence. I can tell you know that it is far easier driving on the autostarada's than it is to drive in the cities. As we approached the city of Florence the streets seemed to shrink vastly in size and they were jammed with cars and scooters all around us.

We had planned to stay in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Florence, which just so happens to house The Central Market. Because parking is limited we had to find a garage to park our car during our stay in this city. The original garage we planned to park in was no longer in existence so we had to circle around until we found another garage (Garage Nazionale) that would allow us to park our car there overnight. After getting the parking situated it was time to drag our luggage to our hotel, which was nearby.

We almost walked right passed out hotel as it was so small and smashed in between many buildings on a tiny narrow street. We had booked our stay at Hotel Centro and boy were we both surprised to find that we would have to share a bathroom as this hotel only provides you with a sink and bidet. We were on the verge of checking right out after the shared bathroom surprise, but instead we decided to tough it out and at least spend one night there.

My hubby looking for the shared bathroom on our floor

Once we were settled we decide to head out for a walk in the city before out visit to the Uffizi Gallery.

Coming up tomorrow the Uffizi Gallery and the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.