Sadly we had our last breakfast at the Minerva. That morning I called the hotel to figure out how to get there, since it was in the middle of a ‘no driving’ district. They told us to drive to the hotel, then take the vehicle to the garage. I also called to make reservations for the Ufizzi at 1:30 and the Acadamia at 4:30, both for the next day.

We packed back into the bus and headed north. We managed to get into central Firenza with no problems. The hotel and RS’ book told us to follow the signs to the center of town. These signs were frequent and large, so navigating was no problem. Once in town we ended up going in circles a couple of times. I eventually realized that while the parking near the fort was about half a mile from our hotel, it was as close as we were going to get to it. The streets were packed with pedestrians, and I saw no way to drive to the hotel with or without hundreds of people in the way. While looking for parking we saw a policewoman stop a scooter for a traffic violation. After driving in Italy for a few days I had a hard time believing were any traffic laws, so seeing someone get a ticket was a shock, especially when there was no fatality involved.

We managed to find the hotel without incident, and they gave me directions to the parking garage. I walked back alone, found the ‘bus’, drove it directly to the garage, dumped the ‘bus’, and eventually started to relax.

Firenza - Palazzo Vecchio	Firenze - Palazzo Vecchio - David copy The original David was here until 1873
Firenza - Piazza Signoria - Ammanati Fountain	Firenza - Loggia dei Lanzi & Uffizi
Firenza - Loggia dei Lanzi - Cellini's Perseus This was Robby's favorite	Firenza - Loggia dei Lanzi - Hercules and the Centaur

Unfortunately the Hotel Maxim is more of a dive than a resort. What it lacks in charm, paint, and amenities it makes up for in location – the hotel is in the heart of the city, a two-minute walk from the Duomo. We walked down to the Palazzo Vecchio and started looking for a place to eat, and found ridiculous prices everywhere. RS’s book told of an inexpensive cafeteria called Leonardo’s. Eventually we found it and had a low priced but great meal. We ended up returning to this place for all our meals.