Florence, Milan and Lake Lugano Switzerland

Sept. 20-22, 2008

Days 4,5, and 6

Day 4- Florence

Continued onto Florence, the capital of Tuscany and home to Renaissance splendor.  We arrived at 4:00 PM and feeling pretty tired. Globus was offering an optional tour in Florence-dinner at a Tuscan restaurant -traditional Florentine meal, including drinks, in a picturesque country setting: EUR €51 per person. We did not attend but heard it was fabulous. Wish we had now, but since we were both feeling sleeping we decided to relax at our hotel- Grand Hotel Mediterraneo right near the Arno River and do some local investigating. The hotel was nice, older, but nothing special, clean, small room and very small bathroom, but in a great location,within walking distance to La Piazza Della Signoria.

After relaxing a bit, we took a walk along the Arno River. My husband really liked Florence and it's rural feel . He loved that the hotel was in a "real" neighborhood, with a park, children playing and people going along with daily life. It was really a nice area and a relaxing walk. We didn't go as far as the main Piazza in Florence, mainly because we had no idea we were that close, until the next day. We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant right next to the hotel. The food was very good, we each had pasta and a salad, water and a coke for 26 Euro. On our way back to hotel I stop for a cappuccino to go and walked around the hotel shops and back to room to relax for our big day in Florence tomorrow.

Day 5- Florence

Woke to a very COLD morning 44 degrees! Yikes...........At least it was sunny, so we knew it would warm up some. We met our Globus guide who escorted us to meet the local guide who took us first to the Galleria Dell Academia (ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS) with Michelangelo’s David. The tour was nice, but a little long. I have seen the "David" before and it's still amazing to see the details of this sculpture. We then walked to Piazza di San Giovanni and took tons of pictures of the magnificent  Cathedral. Duomo and Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s “Gate of Paradise." Then onto the sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE.  This was a fountain paradise! Great place to people watch and also was where they filmed parts of the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun". We ended at Piazza Santa Croce and the rest of the day was at our leisure, which was great because there was a lot we wanted to explore. We walked around the Piazza , took photos and then crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) which is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, noted for still having shops built along it. We had reservations for our "romantic" Anniversary lunch which I made the reservations online before I left the States. We ate a late lunch at the FABULOUS Golden View Open Bar that sits right over the Arno River and looks across to the famous and beautiful Ponte Vecchio. We loved this restaurant and would highly recommend it. The service was fantastic, the food superb and the views INCREDIBLE! And very expensive considering it was just lunch- 46 Euros ($70 US). But it was a special occasion for us and it truly was fabulous....

After that wonderful lunch, we spent the rest of the day exploring, shopping and just having fun... Dinner tonight was with the tour group at the hotel and it was just ok, nothing special, typical hotel food.

Day 6- Milan and Lugano Switzerland
Up and on our way by 7:30 AM as we drove through the Apennine hills past Bologna, home of Europe’s oldest university, to dynamic Milan. Orientation featured its Gothic DUOMO which was breathtaking inside and out. This was probably my favourite of the Duomo's in Italy, lots of stain glass and some 135 spires mounted on the cathedral rooftop and many beautiful sculptures embedded into its facade. The Gothic cathedral took five centuries to complete and is the fourth-largest church in the world.  We also visited the fascinating glass-domed GALLERIA, (Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II), just off Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Scala. Milan's famous shopping complex with the likes of Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton. Fun to look, but who can afford this stuff! The "shopping mall" itself is very impressive and I could have spent much more time here. They only gave us about 2-2/1/2 hours, so grabbed a quick bite, walked around and took photos and back on the bus.


On our way to Lake Lugano Switzerland and the ride up was magnificent. All through the mountains, the scenery was unbelievable. We passed beautiful Lake Como and arrived in Lugano around 3:30 PM. What a beautiful area, spotless! The lake was huge and the mountains surrounding the lake were majestic. Only another 2 hours to spend here so off for a cappuccino and to purchase some delicious Swiss chocolates. Great buys on the chocolates and THEY WERE GOOD!


Back on the bus at 5:30 and heading towards one of my favorite places Lake Maggiore.....in Stresa