Last day in Florence

Hello all,

We got up very early this morning to make sure we could get into the Uffizi Museum. We had tried yesterday afternoon, but after waiting in the line for about a half hour and them not letting a single person in, we decided to come back today. Well we got there before the museum even opened, but it still took about an hour and a half of waiting before we got in. It was definitely worth it, though. They don't allow cameras in the museum so we don't have pictures, but the museum is dazzling. Unlike the Vatican Museum, this one is almost entirely paintings, but their collection is stunning. Room after room of priceless works from Boticelli, Raphael, and Michelangelo. It was definitely worth the hassle! After seeing the Uffizi we walked around a bit, grabbed some food from a local grocery for lunch and had a nice hotel picnic. In the afternoon we "explored" the city, with the hope of finding another voltage converter (our third) so that we could charge the computer and camera, and while we didn't actually find one, we did manage to get our hands on an adapter that we can at least use to plug in the computer charger. We can't use it to charge the camera, though, as it doesn't convert voltage, and we don't want to risk destroying our only camera. We think we located an electronics store, but almost nothing aside from restaurants is open here on Sundays, so we're going to try going by tomorrow morning before we leave.

We head to Venice tomorrow, and we're both excited and a little apprehensive, considering that everything we've heard about Venice warns of extremely high prices and crowds. We've also heard that it's an amazing city, though, so while the logistics of getting there and getting to and from our hotel may be a little tricky, we're definitely excited to experience such a unique place. Then it's of the Verona, Milan, Turin, and then home. Neither of us can believe how quickly it seems this trip has gone and we're having the time of our lives.

We will try to post again tomorrow, although we're not sure whether we will have internet at our hotel in Venice. We definitely have it in Verona, though, so at the very least we will be back with tons of pictures of canals and gondolas in a couple of days.

Arrivederci!
Dan and Kari