By this time in the tour, we were all becoming very weary. I remember one morning, when our annoying little travel alarm went off, I was too tired to figure out how to make the stupid thing be quiet, so I stuffed it under my pillow and went back to sleep, while it was still trying to wake me with its muffled little beeps. Unfortunately, we were awakened a short time later by another member of our group, letting us know that they were headed down for breakfast, and that our bus would be leaving in about 30 minutes. Luckily, we were all able to have time to take our showers, get ready, and even grab some O.J. and a hard breakfast roll, and still catch the bus. So, off we went on another day of sight-seeing in Florence.
Florence is much like Rome, as it is filled with beautiful art and history. Unfortunately, by this time in the tour, all of this beautiful art and history was becoming blurred in my mind, so I don't remember a lot that distinguishes Florence from the other Italian cities. One sight that I do recall, was the beautiful East Doors of the Baptistry. They were sculpted by Lorenzo Ghiberti and are referred to as the "Gates of Paradise". 1