I love Florence! I love the feel of the city, the architecture, the smell... These places that we've visited - The Duomo, St Croce, the plaza outside the Uffizi - have stood for centuries, and I find that simply amazing. I love just walking around and being surrounded by this city of stone and orange tile rooftops.

So, since I my last entry, we've enjoyed gelato too many times. We tried some after dinner yesterday and discovered how delicious it was here. And this morning, Ranee and I snuck out to have some more before breakfast. After lunch, we all went to get some more. Irresistable.

I think the best moments in Florence so far have been climbing some 500+ steps to the top of the cupola of the Duomo and taking in the view from there. Also, the view from the Piazzale Michelangiolo of all of Florence is very pretty too - I think it would be a spectacular place to watch the sun set. Phil and Dave are funny guys, and it definitely makes the trip twice as fun. I'm also so glad Ranee has been with us too. I feel like we've bonded quite a bit so far, and we've certainly had lots of time to just talk at night since she's been my roommate for the past few nights. It feels very different from our time together at TAF, but I like that we're exploring parts of Europe together for awhile.

Dinner calls. Let's see what we find tonight...

Overlooking Florence from Piazzale Michelangiolo.