A view of Florence from Boboli Gardens, once a private Médici residence.

The façade of our bed and breakfast, which was in the heart of the city near Dante Alighieri's purported home.

Cimatori (our bed and breakfast) was all the things we so desperately wanted during the summer in Tuscany: A/C, a lovely breakfast each morning, and fast wi-fi.

Ryan was particularly happy about the location, because sharing the square with our B&B was Grizzly Pub, an Irish pub with great local craft beers. Ryan was in heaven.

The street just around the corner from where we stayed. In any given direction, we would hit a shopping district, the museum quarter, the Arno and its pontes (bridges), or the famous Florence Cathedral.

San Miniato al Monte, a church on a hill overlooking Florence. (Its views were incredible.) It's regarded as one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany, and is considered one of Italy's most scenic churches. Construction began in 1013, and the church is still in use today.

San Miniato has an adjoining Olivetan monastery. The monks make and sell their own honeys, liqueurs, biscotti, and gelato.

We found a bench along a wall of gardenia (which, as you'd expect, smelled amazing) and ate monk-made gelato while looking out at the views of the city.

A winding road in Oltrarno, adjacent to San Miniato. Oltrarno translates to "Across the Arno" (River) from Florence.

The Arno river.

The arches of Boboli Gardens.

Goofing off while waiting in line to see Florence Cathedral.

A view of Florence taken from Uffizi. To the left is the Duomo; to the far right is the Palazzo Vecchio (town hall).

The train to Vienna was so long that by the time we got into the city and found our hotel, it was very late (and we were very, very tired). Imagine how delighted we were to find robes and slippers (!) waiting for us on our very comfy bed.

Had to take a shot of the bathroom because it was so fancy. As much as we loved our bed and breakfasts in Italy and Switzerland, this was a welcome change! ;)

You can see the little Nespresso in the corner, which had Ryan giddy with excitement. I think he went through five espresso pods in a couple of days.

Yes...us in our bathrobes. We were so content. The hotel's location was also superb--it was right across the river from the First District, where all the main attractions and sights are located. We walked outside, stopped at a café next door for lattes, and walked right across the bridge into the old part of the city.

We had some great days of sightseeing around Vienna! We saw plenty of art and history museums, the Hapsburg palace, some original Klimt, and even Ryan's great-grandmother's home in Vienna's Jewish Quarter.

A statue of Mozart, who moved from Salzburg to Vienna when he was young.

We ran into one of Ryan's dissertation committee members, who teaches every summer in Vienna. He took us on a tour of the city's side streets before taking us by train to a wine village in the countryside.