Au Revoir France - Buon Giorno Italia!

If waking up at an hour which shouldn't exist wasn't bad enough, we were about to say goodbye to the place we've fallen in love with and called home for the last few days.


At the airport we found we were blessed with being able to being able to check in a special 'groups only' line which allowed us quick access to more Duty Free shopping! The plane was quick and easy and gave ample time for catching up on some much needed sleep.


On our arrival in Rome, we had a mini coach bus waiting to take us to Firenze. We eventually stopped at an AutoGrill, a road side restaurant and had our first taste of Italian food - even if only of the fast food variety.

We were a bit behind schedule due to traffic and weather, but we eventually made it to San Gimignano. The driver informed us that the town has been awarded BEST GELATO in an international competition 4 times - bonus! Italy was celebrating it's 150th anniversary of unification today and parties were still going on - double bonus! The only pity was that we had to cut our time extremely short to make our dinner reservations in Florence.

With front door service at the restaurant in order to make it on time, we sat for our first Italian meal. It was in the quaint little brick set place which had AMAZING Tiramisu!

Our last trek was a walk back to our Hotel before we are able to finally call it a day - and what a day! Woke up in one country, falling asleep in another...

And thus, the next chapter in our journey begins.