It's about 8:45 in the morning and, like usual, Sarah is still sleeping. I can't say that I blame her because it is cold here---which makes it more difficult to leave the warm comfort of bed. Actually, to better describe our sleeping arrangements, we are sleeping on the floor of the kitchen, living room, dining room, and guest bedroom of Jessica and Andrews apartment. The apartment is actually quite nice and apparently large by many European standards. I like the advantage of being able to grab a glass of milk while staying within the warmth of bed (or futon)!

Yesterday we spent our time on the Florence "Santa" tour. We visited Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo, and Santa Croce churches. The San Lorenzo church was pretty cool since they had the famous Medici Chapel by Michelangelo. We also both liked Santa Croce a lot too. It has the tombs of Michelangelo, Michiaveli, Gherberti, and Galileo. It also has a neat group of pictures showing how the 1966 Florence flood filled this gigantic church with 8' of mud and how the workers toiled to salvage the church and items within. We visited the Science museum too, that has many of Galileo's telescopes and other scientific devices. Yes, we did get to see Galileo's middle finger which they have in a jar!

So far we've found the people of Florence to be quite friendly. We both find it funny when people assume we are not Americans before we speak to them. Sarah has been spoken to in Italian on many occasions. I think it is due to the black clothing (with mandatory boots) she has been wearing and her crazy hair. The slight humidity here has made her hair very entertaining! If you've ever watched the HBO move "Sopranos", just imagine Adriana and you've got what Sarah looks like! Ok... that might be a bit overstating things... As for myself, one of our cashiers started talking to me in French yesterday before realizing my eyes were glazing over and moved to English.

We have enjoyed heading out for evening walks around the city. It is quite a bit less crowded than during the day because many of the tour groups have gone back to their boats. It's completely different to walk around the Duomo and Ponte Vechio at night than during the day.
It's a little safer too... fewer people, fewer scooters and fewer buses.

Ahhh! Sarah is finally out of futon! That means I need to wrap this up! Today we are taking the bus to Siena--at least that's where we hope to end up. Obviously, as we head to the bus station, we'll be needing to stop by one of the cafe's for a cappucino or macchiato!! Ciao!