Florence

I'll begin this post by saying that if you really want to experience Florence, you'll need more than a half day and an evening. I'll definitely be going back to Florence. It's a beautiful city and the time our tour had there simply wasn't enough. Also, it was unfortunately raining throughout the day so it was a bit difficult to snap pictures and I don't think I got the full experience the city of flowers has to offer. 

The city. 

Josh and I with our tour manager, Magdi. She's from Hungary, but has been living the dream traveling the world when she's not guiding tourists around. She's headed to Australia after our tour is finished. 

With Frank and Cynthia from Los Angeles (Ev, Bre, and Mel; you'll have to get to know these great folks!). They just got married and they're touring Europe for their honeymoon. 

My man, Galileo. So apparently Galileo, Da Vinci, and Michaelangelo all were chilling in Florence at the same time when they were all doing their thing. I guess Florence was the place to be for science and art back then. For this reason, I need to come back here and check out the museums and tours. Also, I want to head to Vinci for Da Vinci tours. 

'MURICA 

This bridge is 700 years old. The tiny homes were once for fish markets, but have been converted into storefront now. 

Views from the old bridge. 

Cool hotel. I think the name of this is "Live to Eat" or something to that effect. 

Leon Rosso

Duomo. It was impossible to get this massive structure in a single photo, even pano'd. The dome is around 1,000 years old and is the largest dome in Europe. 

Piazza Della Signoria

With the little free time we had we decided to check out the Galileo Museum. 

The first telescope Galileo built, and what all its successors would be modeled after. Thanks to Galileo we now have Hubble and soon the James Webb telescope (this is the one everyone needs to get really excited about).  

Galileos sketches of the moon. Incredible. 

I think this tracked celestial bodies. I'm not certain though since I couldn't find a description in English. 

In the evening, we had dinner in Tuscany complete with an Italian opera singer. Here we are with the singer. 

The meal at this restaurant was excellent. The meat was cooked perfectly (still bleeding). 

Afterwards, the group went to Club Space. Not many pictures from the night, but I found this and thought this to be the Italian version of the squatty potty. Honestly, people get so drunk at this club I cannot imagine it ending well for anyone trying to do this magic trick. 

Next we're headed to Switzerland!