Florence 2 (by Sarah)

We slept in this morning (well I did) and then I had the leftover burger I ordered last night at the Hard Rock Café for breakfast. Then we made our way to the hop on-hop off Florence open bus tour.

First of all we just sat on the bus and went around so we could see all the places that we would want to get off. I spotted the store I wanted to go into in Rome and we decided to stop there first on the second round for a bit of shopping!

We went to Santa Croce church and saw a little store near the front of the church that sold glass decorations that are painted onto glass and for a 3D effect, they paint on 3 layers of glass. I decided to give in because I liked it so much so I bought it.

After we caught the bus again, we went to a lookout over Florence and the view was huge and like it would never end. We had ice cream and the coldest drinks we've found in Italy so far. Back on the bus to Ponte Vecchio where mum bought a Pandora charm (the Colosseum) and I couldn't believe how many jewellery stores there were. No shopping for me though - just window shopping (note from Mum, I did buy two pieces of Swarovski jewellery yesterday!).

Later in the day we walked to the Duomo (we still can't work out how to say it) and stopped at the biggest church you could ever imagine. Mum was interested in the church but I was interested in finding shoes so I could buy a pair of wedges (the shoes not the food!). After more gelati (the best yet) we also found the Lindt store and bought chocolate and on the way back - Mum bought a bag. A very good shopping day in Florence.

Overall, I liked Florence better than Rome because the airconditioning in the room is half decent and it is quieter than Rome.