Piazza Michelangelo isn't the easiest place to get to. It's outside of the city walls on top of one damn impressive hill – I mean, it isn't like some monastery out in the Himalayas, but for a city where you spend a good eight to ten hours a day on your feet and everything worth seeing is at the top of three or four staircases, it's a hike to get here. I climbed a hundred and five steps, plus ninety-five of those steps that are so steep they have to angle them, and I battled through the exhaustion and the burning in my legs by thinking about how much easier getting back down would be.

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It's totally worth it for the view. On a visit to Florence, the pictures you can get of the Tuscan hillside almost make up for the pictures they won't let you take of the great art.

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This is the Florentine city wall, built back in Roman times.

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Another self-portrait, to make it easier for those of you trying to experience my vacation vicariously.

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