Still in lovely Florence today, with a garden in the morn and the afternoon free. We took a quick walking tour of the city, which is apparently mostly shut down on Mondays. Par for the course for us for the trip...everywhere we went we were met with closed, under renovation, or no fountains...argh.
The Academia, home of Michelangelo's David, was closed, as were most of the tourist spots. Peeked in the Palazzo Vecchio, walked by the Accademia, crossed the Arno River on the Ponte Vecchio, and visited Pitti Palace to the Boboli Gardens. The Medici's lived here and ruled over the Renaissance. 
With the afternoon free, what's there to do? Shop & eat. The squares were loaded with market vendors with everything from leather to wool to jewelry to anything to hook a tourist. Some junk, some good stuff. And they expect you to haggle. Working up an appetite with all that could only be satisfied by gelato. Too bad you couldn't haggle on the gelato. Some friends got really ripped with a 12 Euro ice cream cone. It is some good stuff, but not that good...that's like $18 for an ice cream! 
Later, my pal Anna and I hiked across the Arno to the Michelangelo Piazza with an incredible sunset view of the city. The hefty hike up the hill was worthy of a gelato reward.
Thanks to a guidebook review (I knew there was a reason I lugged those heavy books in my bag), we found the best gelateria ever, just by the Ponte Vecchio and the river. Priced right and oh so good.
What a good way to end the day. Too bad I couldn't have squeezed in gelato for breakfast too.
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