Labor Day at Cedar Key

We flew over to Cedar Key with the boys for the weekend. It was fantastic.

They have a great strip right on the key, no tower or offices, just the strip and a place to tie down.



We called a cab and got a ride to the condo we rented for the weekend. It was great, a 2/2 full kitchen etc. for only $90 a night. We walked to the market, made dinner (after which Fabio and Adrian cleaned up!)and shot some pool at one of the local bars.





The next day we all went kayaking and got to spend a little time playing with some wild dolphins and had a picnic on a private island.



It really was a great weekend.

Last moments in Florence

Today started with a visit to Santa Maria Novella, which I think has the prettiest interior yet. No photos allowed but there's one on Flickr of the exterior.

From there we killed some time and then went for our reservation at the Ufizzi. Again, no photos, but the most noteable peice was "the Birth of Venus" by Botticelli, it's the same image used by Adobe for Illustrator. Not being art enthusiasts we didn't know all about the art so we just admired for an hour or so.

After art gazing we were starving and stopped for lunch at Il Tocco di Bacco which was not only cheap and tasty but we also made a friend, Dominico. Once we knew he spoke English we started talking. He grew up in Sicily, then moved to Miami and lived in Longwood for a bit, used to work at Enzos and Antinios in Maitland. Small world huh? Now he's part owner of a restaurant in Florence.

Now we're waiting till it's time to retrieve our bags and head to the train station for our 6pm train to Rome.

Ciao ciao Firenze.

Leather & Bridges

After the Duomo we rested a bit, then we had gelato before hitting the San Lorenzo leather market (yes Chris, I got you a new belt). We had fun negotiating, one stall owner said gave us discounts in exchange for a kiss! While at the market we just happened to see another mom/
daughter that sat across from us on the train, small world.

Our hotel is in a great location, a block from both the leather market and the Duomo. So after shopping we dropped our goods there before heading out for more.

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is famous for the shops selling gold jewelry that line it - even Hitler found it attractive, he ordered it be spared in WWII. The picture included is for my friend Carolina in Cordova Spain (sorry I haven't written lately, I am thinking of you still) we both like going barefoot.

From the bridge we just wandered a bit, enjoyed a mime show and window shopped. When our 423 step hike started to take it's toll we stopped for food. Mom found Trattoria Accadi, it was great! Mostly locals, all local dishes, like tripe, tongue and other non-vegetarian frindly things. No matter though, we both ordered Ribollita, a Tuscan veggy soup with bread, so yummy! It was like moist Thanksgiving stuffing with only veggies The staff was great too, tried very hard
with their English. Would definitly recommend.

We made it back to our toiletless room early but exhausted. Tomorrow we see the Uffizi more churches and then the train to Roma.

~Sara~

423 Steps

After a morning train ride full of peanut matches We arrived in Florence and promptly found our hotel. It's in a very old looking building and we had to climb 3 flights to check in but our room us
spacious and airy but unfortunatly has a bidet but no toilet, we have to walk down the hall.

We discovered that the only way to see the inside of the famous Brunelleschi Duomo right now is to climb it. So, 423 steps later we got our view, we were so close we could have touched the painting. In the includef picture you can see the interior of the dome. I was amazed at the vibrant colors and the detail portrayed in each scene.

Then we went to the outside of the dome for an amazing 360 view of Florence and Tuscany. Pictures from this are amazing, you'll see. The hike was totally worth the effort now, tomorrow morning we may feel differently. Now we earned some gelato.

PS from Sara-I have claustrophobia and Mom has a history of cluziness in foreign countries so I'm quite proud of us for making it through 856 steps! I'll send the iPhone pics if to my Flickr if you want to see them.

Update on Travel Plans

We just realized, don't think we told everyone that we cancelled our roadtrip. For a multitude of reasons we decided to cancel the rental car and take the train.

We also decided to stay in Venice one more night and skip Bologna. So we have one more night at Hotel Caprera (90€ / night / double) ehich has been pretty nice, great location. Then on Wednesday we take the train straight from Venice to Florence (74€ for us both) where we stay at Pensione Canada (70€ / night / double) for one night. From there we'll take the train to Termini in Rome (52€ for us both) and find our rental apartment (B&B Boschetto 15 - 80€ / night / double) which is near the Cavour metro stop.

Then we'll have five nights in Rome before we try to fly home, hopefully we don't end up in some random country again ^_-