Another travel day. We checked out of our lovely apartment in Rome and made our way to Termini train station. Fortunately we had left ourselves lots of time because the Rome marathon was today and a lot of streets were blocked off. The taxi had to take a very roundabout route to the station. The upside was that we saw new parts of Rome.

The train ride to Florence was uneventful. That means “good”. High speed trains are such a pleasure. I’m looking forward to the day when we have them in Canada. Jan did an excellent job in finding a hotel once again, and we had a five minute walk from the station. The room is lovely, overlooking a large square.

After checking in, we went for a stroll around Florence. I noticed this sign warning about scams. It appears that scams are everywhere, and you can never be too careful.

We are in a very central location in Florence. When I went for a walk, I turned the corner and immediately saw the Duomo.

Five minutes later, I was in the square. Wow. We will definitely come back for a longer look and probably go inside tomorrow.

Right beside the Duomo there was a pharmacy, and it had one of the most impressive signs I’ve ever seen.

Then I headed toward the Ponte Vecchio, the famous covered bridge in Florence. But along the way I came across a square with a carousel. Tempting, but I’m sure I’m a little too old for it.

And then I arrived at the Ponte Vecchio. I didn’t cross it – we will save that for tomorrow. But I caught this image of the bridge with the lights reflecting in the river. The water was like glass.

Then back to the hotel, past the restaurant where we have reservations for dinner. It looks to be a charming little spot, even though it is unassuming from the outside.

Based on what I’ve seen so far, Florence seems to be a beautiful city that we’re looking forward to exploring over the next couple of days. Now it’s off to dinner.