We continued to walk, and although google maps indicated we were within 10m of the hotel, we still could not find it. Mckenna stopped suddenly, and as I looked around, I spotted their sign....

Disaster narrowly averted as Mckenna later confessed the reason she had stopped was to have a temper tantrum. But we made it to the hotel, which was charming and a bit unsettling, all at once.

I kept having to push thoughts of The Shining out of my mind as our bellhop led us through winding halls, past tiny chairs...

To a tiny elevator, where with 3 of us, Mckenna and I were literally nose to nose. (This is later, when we were in a much better mood)

But it worked great, and after freshening up and having a good laugh, we ventured outside to see some of the beautiful sights. After stopping for our 1st gelato (amazing!), we made our way to Piazza del Duomo. We rounded a corner and saw this:

It was magnificent!

We then made our way to Piazza della Signoria, and stumbled across Piazza della Repubblica, where we were treated to some live street music.

We eventually found Piazza della Signoria, which proved to be worth the walk with its open spaces and enormous statutes.

We then began working our way back to our hotel, searching for a place for dinner. We settled on a cafe with outdoor seating, conveniently located by our hotel.

We had another delicious meal of pasta, and were so enjoying the lovely evening, I decided to order a 2nd glass of wine. But service in European restaurants is notoriously slow, so I wasn’t sure it would happen.

But then, to my good fortune, the waiter mistakenly took a glass of wine to a couple two tables down, who had ordered a bottle. I offered to take it off his hands, which made both couples chuckle and opened the door to conversation for the rest of the evening. The couple sitting next to us were retirees from Australia, and the next were a young couple from Ohio. We all exchanged travel stories and were fast friends by the time we left; it was a delightful evening. Mckenna and I returned to our hotel and collapsed into bed.

We slept in, and then made our way back to the station, allowing ourselves plenty of time, just in case. We made it with no problem and even had time to do a little shopping.

I feel like we’re starting to get the hang of this and will be worldly travelers by the end of the week. No easy feat for someone (hint: not Mckenna) who tends to be a bit on the anxious side.

Next up - Venice!