We did the DCL Florence and Michelangelo tour on June 10th. You have two hours of free time for lunch and shopping which is really not much time at all.
For lunch we went to I Fratellini which is basically a cupboard in the wall at Via dei Cimatori, 38 near the Duomo. The menu consists of about 20 different types of paninis all for about 3.50 euros each. You order by number and then eat it sitting on the street. I think that I had ham and mozzarrella - it was by far the best sandwich I have ever had. And the picture of my family eating lunch sitting on the curb on DH's 60th birthday is my favorite photo of the trip!
After that we went to Grom for gelato. Totally amazing. It is right around the corner on Via del Campanile, 2.
The Disney store was also nearby so we popped in. Basically no different from your garden variety mall store so I am glad we didn't waste time looking for it. Although there was a cute mural of Huey, Douey and Louey on the wall that I took a picture of.
Two hours goes by quickly. I had expected to do some shopping but there really wasn't time. We did manage to make our way back to the street adjacent to the Ponte Vecchio bridge where we each bought a small watercolor from a street artist for 15 euros each. They are very nice and as it turned out - my only personal purchase from my first trip to Europe. I guess I will have to go back.
Also, before the cruise I pre-purchased two DCL water bottles from the web site which were waiting for us in our stateroom when we arrived. These turned out to be a life saver. Filled them up with ice before we left and we able to fill them from fountains throughout the day. I found out later that it was 104 degrees in Florence that day! On all of our tours we rarely stopped for water (they were all adult only -I don't know if that had anything to do with it) so we were really glad we had the bottles for all of our excursions.
For lunch we went to I Fratellini which is basically a cupboard in the wall at Via dei Cimatori, 38 near the Duomo. The menu consists of about 20 different types of paninis all for about 3.50 euros each. You order by number and then eat it sitting on the street. I think that I had ham and mozzarrella - it was by far the best sandwich I have ever had. And the picture of my family eating lunch sitting on the curb on DH's 60th birthday is my favorite photo of the trip!
After that we went to Grom for gelato. Totally amazing. It is right around the corner on Via del Campanile, 2.
The Disney store was also nearby so we popped in. Basically no different from your garden variety mall store so I am glad we didn't waste time looking for it. Although there was a cute mural of Huey, Douey and Louey on the wall that I took a picture of.
Two hours goes by quickly. I had expected to do some shopping but there really wasn't time. We did manage to make our way back to the street adjacent to the Ponte Vecchio bridge where we each bought a small watercolor from a street artist for 15 euros each. They are very nice and as it turned out - my only personal purchase from my first trip to Europe. I guess I will have to go back.
Also, before the cruise I pre-purchased two DCL water bottles from the web site which were waiting for us in our stateroom when we arrived. These turned out to be a life saver. Filled them up with ice before we left and we able to fill them from fountains throughout the day. I found out later that it was 104 degrees in Florence that day! On all of our tours we rarely stopped for water (they were all adult only -I don't know if that had anything to do with it) so we were really glad we had the bottles for all of our excursions.
