Heather & Kevin

Visiting south of Florence, we will stroll along the city's political heart flanked by the Palazzo Vecchio. Next, we will visit the town hall and the Uffizi Gallery, one of Italy's leading art galleries. We'll visit the church of the Santa Croce home to frescoes by Giotto and tombs of some of Florence's greatest men: Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and Rossini and no visit would be complete without a tour of the Gallery of the Academy with the original masterpiece David by Michelangelo!

On our walking tour we'll visit St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican is one of the most interesting and breathtakingly beautiful sites in the world, with some very interesting stories, and our personal guide has all the scoop!

Thanks to you, we'll be able to extend our honeymoon from Assisi to Florence! We'll stay two nights at Hotel Liana, a beautiful hotel right near St. Croce church, and walking distance to the Centro Storico, the Duomo, Uffizi Galleria and the Galleria dell'Accademia. The treasures there are too vast to name, but we are especially looking forward to seeing Michelangelo's David, a dream of mine for as long as I can remember!

Once we've enjoyed the Umbrian cuisine, we eagerly await authentic Tuscan food while staying in Florence. It would take a lifetime to enjoy everything the city has to offer, but we've narrowed it down to some recommended restaurants near the Florentine sites and our hotel: Frescobaldi Wine Bar; Taverna del Bronzino, which is a former 16th century Renaissance art studio; Cantinetta il Francescano; Alle Murate, with its own on-site historian; and Capocaccia for Sunday brunch, Florentine-style. We look forward to espresso and gellato throughout our trip at various trattorias.

Lucky for us, Italy (and all of Europe) has a great rail transportation system, which saves us the hassle of renting a car- plus, as good of a driver as Kevin is, I don't know how he'll fare on the mountain roads! We'll use the train to arrive from Florence to Assisi, then take the train to Rome for the day. Back to Assisi from Rome gives us a chance to enjoy the last few days in Umbria before checking out of our villa and ending our trip in Florence, where we will depart from to home.

Any help to get to and from our destination is a wonderful gift. We will be thanking you long after take off.