Leonard Family Around the World Adventure

Monday January 28 th . The is the second time I am writing this – I hit save just a minute ago and lost a full 30 minutes of work. I am really starting to hate word 2007 and Vista – I have never lost this much work t to software lockups. I got up at 7 and woke of the Girls at 8am. We grabbed a quick bite – included with room and then headed to the car for the stressful drive across town to return it. We only got lost a couple of times and eventually got the car returned in one piece – no problems. We struck out on foot – firs to the Piazza Santa Maria Novella – it was under renovation so we did not stay long. From there we headed to the Basilica de San Lorenza and paid to go inside. It was beautiful. From there we headed to the Cathedral – it was amazing – it seemed nearly as large as St. Peters in Rome. We paid to make the climb up the duomo. The views from the top were spectacular but I had a small attack of vertigo. There were only about 15 to 20 other tourists – I can only

Sunday January 27 th . We got up this morning, had a quick breakfast packed up, checked out, put the luggage on the left baggage area and then the long walk to our car. Drove back to the hotel and packed up and then headed for Firenze. Traffic was light and we only got lost a few times. I highly recommend arriving by car on Sundays. The traffic is much lighter, the traffic restrictions are fewer and parking is free. We came in through the Ichelangel overlook where which overlooks the Arno and you can see most of the city. We found the information area – they could not recommend hotels but we walked to the Hotel Dante and they had free parking and a mini-apartment with kitchenette for 100 euro. We decided to take it and then walked around exploring for a while – we checked on one other hotel but it was closed for the season. The hotel is just off the Piazza S. Croce. There was a street fair/market in the Piazza where they were selling chocolate. The girls indulged. We got lunch