Westin Florence

... . At the end of the blog for the 7th trip the previous July, I indicated that I was presented with a dilemma, whether to stay in Florence at my favorite hotel Croce di Malta or a new one which my friend Cristina had set up for me, at the Westin Excelsior, ...

Seven days were planned for Florence at the Westin Excelsior once again, but this time not the Executive Suite, but another suite, but "smaller". In fact the room was magnificent with large bedroom, marble bathroom, sitting room with two balconies one ...

... ; http://www.uffizi.com/painting-collection-rooms-uffizi-gallery.asp Like most of the tour, our time there gave us only a sampling of what the city had to offer but it was a very satisfactory sampling - Florence was definitely all I thought it would be!! ...

... time to think it over, and the decision was, of course, reached just before my Christmas, 2002 trip back to Italy, this time with Laura. Lidia and I had one final dinner together, before I was to leave Florence for my train to Venice in the early morning. ...

... see her again later in the week. She also told us that the previous reception manager, Salvatore, was now reception manager for another Westin hotel, in Venice at the Danieli, would welcome us personally when we got to Venice. She then asked where we were ...

... was an adventure all in itself.   July 21 - The next morning we took a taxi to a new super swank, downtown Florence hotel (the Westin Excelsior Firenze) (taxis here are WAY over priced by the way) and headed off to a walking tour of Florence ...

... the bill which I absolutely declined; it was my turn after all these years. We bid them adieu and drove into Florence. Cristina had left the Westin Hotel Chain, and now worked for the Helvetia and Bristol, another 5 star place, but with an even better ...

... at my hotel that she had to cancel. It would have cost 50 Euros. From there I made my way to Ognissanti, glancing at the Westin Excelsior, and it would be a reach to say here and now that I had a premonition that I would be back there someday in the ...

Oh beautiful Florence - the last of our Meridien/Starwood installments and where to better stay than a Grand Hotel on the Arno embankment. The welcome picture is taken from the side of our hotel and will inspire me to do some serious painting - not ...

... and the food spoke for itself.  We then continued with the rest of our walking tour courtesy of the lonely planet Florence guide. Dinner was at our very first Michelin 3 star restaurant: Enoteca Pinchiorri.  For those of you who have been ...

... Sabrina, Laura and I got into Lidia's car and off we went first to Monteriggioni, that wonderful, tiny town about a hour south of Florence, where we stayed for about an hour, and then off to nearby San Gimignano, where we had a lovely lunch and toured ...

... amazing balcony. The room was smaller than ours, but elegant, a different shape and equally amazing. Those 3 days in Florence at the Westin were a fantasy of one extraordinary moment after another. The only thing that made leaving tolerable was that we ...

We agreed to sleep in on this Sunday in Florence, even missing breakfast, which at the Westin is a big thing. We also agreed to spend the day in the room seeing videos, and staring at our incredible view of the Arno from our room. I even set up a chair ...

Every visit to Florence since 1996 starts with the same thing, a visit to my very dear friend, Lidia, who owns a leather store, Gioia Chiara on via della Scala, a bit down the street away from Piazza Santa Maria Novella and towards the train station. No ...

... of a fresco that would have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the Sala dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The rulering Signoria at the time, early 16th century decided to have Leonardo adorn one wall and Michelangelo another in ...

... . Even the Tiramisu was made with zabaglione, which made it lighter and tastier than all others. Note about the Westin Excelsior Florence: http://www.westinflorence.com -         170+ rooms, many of which overlook ...