We planned to have a really lazy day for our anniversary, and in the morning/early afternoon we succeeded. We slept in late, laid in bed watching Discovery channel on satellite TV on the plasma screen, and just lazed around until almost 3pm. The apartment at the Relais Piazza Signoria was just awesome. By then we were starving, so we went downstairs to the sidewalk cafe for lunch. It was OK food, nothing special, but it was the place where we had lunch with the Spielberg’s after our wedding 10 years ago.

Then we really started moving and walked around the city non-stop until we had dinner at 9:30pm. We visited the Palazzo Vecchio and were able to get all the way into the ante-room to the Sala Rossa, aka Salon Matrimonio, where the huge carved wood bench is that we sat on while waiting to get married. After the Palazzo, we walked all over, taking pictures as we went.

One bit of advice for future visits: When you want gelato, just because the waffles smell and look so good, don’t get it. They take two large waffles, put some gelato in the middle, and just give it to you on a piece of wax paper. It is a complete mess, very difficult to eat as you can’t possibly bite through two thicknesses of waffles, and the gelato melts everywhere. The little piece of wax paper can’t hold the melting gelato, so it runs all over you. Big mistake.

I had planned for us to have dinner at Acqua al Due, where we had dinner on our wedding night, but at the advice of Rosa the apartment manager, we had not made reservations. Well, that was a mistake as the place was completely packed. We waited for a bit, but gave up and left. We ended up eating at the same place we ate the night before and had enjoyed. It was good the second time too. Everything is so fresh tasting.

Tomorrow we leave Florence for the Tuscan countryside. Have to pack up tonight, although we really don’t want to leave this awesome place.