"Sleeping" at a train station...NOT RECOMMENDED!

Well we had another amazing weekend in Italy. Brian and I went to Florence (Firenze) with our friends Mike, Patrick, and Andy and we had a fantastic time. Our trip was planned less than a week before we went so we were unable to book times for any museums or galleries but it was worth it none the less. Also we were unable to get a night train there so we had to attempt to sleep at the Chiasso, Switzerland (on the Swiss/Italian boarder) train station on the benches outside. Obviously that did not workout as planned and we were running on little to no sleep when we arrived Saturday morning.

Even so we stayed awake and enjoyed the beautiful city, exploring every option of events that were possible to do without waiting in line all day to see. We were able to get into the Palazzo Vecchio which I think was incredible and possibly my (Louise) favorite attraction out of everything we saw all weekend. There were no statues or famous paintings throughout it but every room was decorated and designed differently...the ceilings were amazing. We loved the unique structure of the building and the furniture/items left behind to view. Here are a couple pictures to help describe how wonderful the Palazzo Vecchio was.

After that self-tour we were motivated for climbing the gigantic tower, the very tall building connected to the S. Maria del Fiore (Duomo) that we were unable to explore. The tower was not as exciting as I expected but it was fun none the less. We climbed the 400 and some stairs to reach the top; getting a fantastic view from 4 different points during the climb. At the top we were able to see one of the best views of the whole city which was really cool. Here is a photo of the tower and a great view of Florence.