We arrived in Florence on Friday around 2pm, it was a quick trip from the airport to the hotel. We stayed at The Grand Hotel in Florence which is part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection. This hotel is amazing, it is not too far from downtown, yet it is far enough away that it is quiet in the evening.
Mike and I took a quick shower and then headed for a walk into the city center with Mark. We walked past the Duomo, the leather market, and a few other key landmarks. Mike is a big gelato fan and it was one of the first things we wanted to eat. I had chocolate and coconut, while he tried Mint and Strawberry, all the flavors were rich and delicious. We stayed active walking for a few hours because we knew as soon as we sat down we would start getting tired. A few more people arrived and we headed to the bar to grab some wine.
Around 8 we headed to a restaurant with a group of 8 of us, this restaurant was known for the fresh seafood. The guys headed inside to check out the seafood selections. We ended up opting for a few appetizers to start, I had a plate of salumi and prosciutto, Mike, Cameron and Mark all had a grilled octopus salad while Dan and Candy had a HUGE bowl of muscles, clams, razor clams, and shrimp. The two little girls (Chloe and Sydney) had spaghetti. For entrees Mike had a fish stew, I had one huge ravioli stuffed lobster and mushrooms. We had 2 bottles of chardonnay and a fume. For dessert we shared a panna cotta, some sorbert and a bottle of very good Vin Santo. It was a great meal and for all of us it was about 500 euros.
Mark, Cameron, Mike and I headed to a wine bar after for one more drink (not like we needed any more, but wanted to go out). At the wine bar we shared a bottle of Cabernet. By this point it was after midnight and we were exhausted. We headed to the hotel and all crashed! It was 9am before we were up this next morning.
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