Up before daybreak this morning.  Dressed and out the door of our hotel into a water taxi this time.  The porter from our hotel dragged our luggage this time around.  I was too busy blowing my nose anyway and wondering if I could have my tonsils out in Florence and still be able to attend the wedding.  Julie told me to take out a five thousand lire note for the porter.  I fished through my pockets in the dark, handed her the money and she gave it to the porter who thanked us profusely (it was about a $2.50 tip).  We settled into the taxi for an eery but breathtaking ride up the canal to the train station.  People talk about the way light hits the water and the buildings in Venice, and this morning, as the sun was just barely starting to come up, was one of those times when Venice was at its best.

Julie began going through our money to double-check that we had enough for the taxi ride.  She noticed that the 50,000 Lire note that she had seen the night before when checking my money was not there.  After some discussion, we figured out that I must have given her the 50,000 note instead of the 5,000 note she had asked for to give the porter.  That would explain why he was so pleased with his tip!  I immediately handed over all my money to Julie and told her she'd better be in charge of it all from now on so that I wouldn't do that again.  Now if we went broke tipping too much, it would be her fault!  I have also since learned that the 5,000 Lire notes are green and the 50,000 Lire notes are purple.

Julie took this picture from the back of the water taxi on our ride to the Ferrovia (train).  As you can see, it was still pretty dark out.  You can just barely make out the other boat behind us near the bridge.

Julie also took a short video from the water taxi on our way.  (Video clip of Water Taxi to Ferrovia - 6.58MB)

Our train ride was great.  There is very little vibration or sound on these fast trains.  Of course there is virtually no chance to really sightsee either because they go too fast to take anything in that isn’t a blur.  We spent an hour, or so, in the dining car having what had become our staple breakfast of hot tea and a roll with jam.  

We arrived in Florence without incident, found a taxi and were at the hotel in about five minutes.  Piece of cake.

Florence is made up of a whole bunch of small one-way streets that make no sense whatsoever.  Luckily, very few cars are actually allowed into the historic center of the city, so mostly you see taxis and scooters and a lot of people walking.  Our taxi driver took us over one bridge and then back across another from which Julie took this shot of the Ponte Vecchio (although the picture was actually taken on a later walk over the same bridge).

Naturally, when we arrived at the Hotel Continental, it was again too early to check in, so we deposited our luggage with the concierge then took off walking.  It was Labor Day, so all the stores were closed.  Luckily, the local farmacie were open, so I was able to find some more of the SineCod cough syrup that was my lifeline.  I also found some great hard candies that helped keep the coughing controlled in between cough syrup doses.

Our first wanderings took us right to the Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza di Signoria . . .

This is the Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace), which was the seat of power in Florence before the advent of the Medici.

This is a close-up of the front door of the Palazzo Vecchio.  You can see a replica of David on the left.  This is actually where the real one used to stand before it was moved inside to a museum to protect it from the elements.  Although still impressive, there really is a difference between this replica and the real one at the Academia in Florence.

After stopping for some gelato and a rest, we headed out again on our walk.  Suddenly we were at the Duomo, still resplendent and overwhelming in scope and color after all these centuries.  Julie gasped, "Oh, my God!" as she took in the green and pink and white marble.

This is just the front door to the Duomo.  Julie also took a video of the front facade and Campanile. (Video Clip of the Duomo - 7.07MB)

Then we went over to see the Ghiberti doors (actually, now they too are a copy), all gold and reflective in the bright morning sun.

The Ghiberti doors, seen above, were dubbed "The Gates of Heaven" by Michelangelo, when he first beheld them.

We then continued our walk around Florence.  I think we walked ten miles that morning, meandering hither and yon, circling one historic building after another.  We checked out the closed stores on the Via Tournebuoni (the Rodeo Drive of Florence) and wandered back over the bridge opposite the Ponte Vecchio.

Here is another shot of the Ponte Vecchio.  That black object in the sky is actually a bird!

We wandered back over the Ponte Vecchio, but all of the jewelry stores on it were closed as well, and then finally went back to the hotel to get settled in.  Our hotel was right at the end of the Ponte Vecchio, so the location was extremely convenient for walking around everywhere in Florence.

Our room was in a great location, with a view of both the main street and part of the Arno River.  It was nicely appointed, and the bathroom was humongous.  By this time I was feeling sorry for Julie because she was pretty much recovered, while I was now finished sneezing but had settled in with this awful cough and was not to be found without a cough drop either in my mouth or about to be popped into my mouth.  I even slept with them in my mouth all night long!  But it never stopped us for one minute from going and doing, eating and drinking everything in sight!

We got ready for dinner and had a fabulous meal at the flagship hotel of the Lungarno Hotel line.  The Lungarno Hotel has an incredible restaurant with a view of the Arno (it is almost directly opposite where our hotel was).  It was nothing less than a dining experience -- we even were given some stewed baby octopus to try, which we did and actually enjoyed.