Minerva Florence

... a triangle. Two stone arms reached out to form a narrow entrance, complete with turret, for the ships to use. On to Florence - about a 2 hour drive. Apparently there's only one place to make a rest stop, because all of the buses seemed to be ...

... far more important than all the shopping and we found ourselves seated at an outdoor restaurant with wine and all the amazing Florence specialties. Chris and I spent about 3 hours just eating, drinking, talking and taking in the local fare. What a great ...

... took a look around the Ponte Vecchio; site of an earlier Roman bridge over the river and the oldest remaining bridge in Florence. The famed structure is considered a landmark and was the only Florentine bridge to survive the Nazi occupation of the city ...

... . My journal of that date indicates that I arrived in Rome at 9:30 AM, which means that I took the 8:00 AM Eurostar out of Florence. I recall that the trip was very fast, and when I arrived at Stazione Termini that I took a taxi to the Roman Forum. It ...

With Italy's major sites behind us, we planned two days to drive back to Rome from Florence. Now, mind you, the direct route from Florence to Rome is less than 3 hours of driving time. But we wanted plenty of time to sightsee along the way.  Using ...

... . And I had a gelato at Very Good and yes it was very good. Not better than Giovanni's Pasticciere though. After leaving Florence at dusk, we headed to Fiesole, a town above Florence. We had dinner at Ristorante Le Lance and it was beyond delicious. ...

... to Montecatini. Meet your fellow walking enthusiasts at this evening's included dinner. (B in flight, D) 3/1 Journey to nearby Florence for a guided sightseeing tour. See the many Renaissance treasures of the city, including Ghiberti's "Gates of ...

... we have high hopes for learning lots and lots about the history and local culture. Tomorrow we have a full day planned in Florence. Arrivederci!!! Jen, Linda, and Rebecca PS - The keyboards here are a little different than what we're used to, so ...

... wasn't almost twice my age.... who knows?  This is after all one of the wealthiest areas of Italy!!!  We finished off the night as a group on the terrace of our hotel - wine, pizza and good conversation, Off to Florence/Firenze tomorrow, ...

... would be drinking tonight (jokingly of course).  This time we kept it to a nice half litre, as we were a little tired from wandering around in the sun all day.  Another relatively early night so we can catch a morning train to Florence ...

... had a great time on both our tour as well as traveling to Venice on our own. My favorite destinations were Venice and Florence, though every city and town we visited had something different and worthwhile to offer. We really enjoyed our time in Venice and ...

... !  After our morning vaparetto ride from Ponte di Rialto back to the train station, we hopped a high-speed train back to Florence, where we switched to a second, regional train for the remaining trip to Assisi.  [Before arriving in Assisi, we ...

... loved being amongst all the cats, especially since most were very keen to make friends. Another wonderful dinner in a recommended restaurant, and then home to rest very weary feet (partly due to continuing transport strike).  Tomorrow, ...

... and her mother and I did more of the former than the latter, finding many nice souvenirs--though Assisi proved pricier than Florence--and some excellent gelato, my first for the trip: I had peach and melon, complete with whole slices of the fruits frozen ...

Vandaag een rustdag voor Ilse en Florence die bij het hotel en de Mall blijven. Ook Koen en ik slapen uit, eten bij Denny's, kijken bij de winkelketen Best Buy nog naar de I-pods en gaan dan met auto richting het Badlands NP.  Helaas komen we zover ...

... to eat. The menu was very random, but we all love food here so no one minded. Rex's girlfriend who is studying in Florence was visiting and made this amazing tomato soup, for which we made about 10 grilled cheese sandwiches to dip with. We also made ...

... . I had heard of it before but for the life of me, I couldn't remember where! I slept most of the ride since we didn’t leave Florence until 9am. We got to Assisi at 11, we had a guided tour with Jana, she’s going to be our tour guide while ...

... at Termini waiting for our train, eating (again!!) and working on the blog. Lauren has said several times she would love to live here. That would be great if she could do study abroad here. (Then I could come visit her!!) :) Next stop, Florence! ...

This past weekend, Erin and I travelled with our study abroad group to ROME! The four hour bus ride from Florence to Rome seemed like it lasted forever because we were so anxious to see the eternal city!  Our hotel was located right outside one of ...