It was a fairly simple walk from the station to the apartment and I got checked in with no issues. Realising I was absolutely starving and noticing a Hard Rock Cafe nearby I headed there for a real treat. After a burger and fries followed by a brownie sundae easily big enough for two washed down with refillable Pepsi I was way too full to attempt a food shop. Grabbing just milk for cups of tea and making my way back to the apartment.
In the morning I enjoyed sitting on the balcony and doing some research on google as to what I wanted to see whilst in Florence before going out for lunch. After lunch I was meeting Brett at the train station as he was coming to stay with me in Florence for a few days. After heading back to the apartment to drop off Brett's bag we sat on the terrace to catch up before going to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset over the city. The viewpoint was really crowded but we decided to risk a spot that was cordoned off for building works, managing to watch the whole sunset and take all the photos we needed before being told off for being over the barrier. When Brett decided to come to Florence over Halloween I was shocked to find out he had never carved a pumpkin and I had promised we would do this whilst he was here so on the way home we ducked into the supermarket to pick out the best ones.
The following day we were up early to go and take part on a free Renaissance walking tour. After nearly an hour in the tour and realising we were both pretty bored and not really learning anything we sneakily sloped off before the end and went to the Hard Rock Cafe for a much needed refuel! I chose the cauliflower burger from their new vegetarian range and on starting to eat quickly regretted my decision as it wasn't very nice. After lunch we got the train to Pisa to go and see the famous leaning tower. Unfortunately on arrival in the grounds of the tower we noticed signs saying you are no longer allowed to stand on the grass, this somewhat hampered our plans for some hilarious shots and we had to settle for merely trying to hold it up! After returning to Florence and getting some dinner it was time to get back to the apartment so that pumpkin carving could commence. Mr 'I've never carved a pumpkin' Holland blew my efforts out of the water when he quickly got down to work drawing and cutting out the logo for Emu Export and finishing up his masterpiece whilst I was still struggling with the facial features of my humble owl.
We were up early the next morning as we were going on an all day tour around Tuscany, taking in San Gimignano, Siena and the fortress town of Monteriggioni with lunch in between at a winery.
Our last day was spent taking part in a cookery class, where we learnt to make pasta, bolognese and tiramisu before indulging in eating our four course creations!