Oh, and for the birthday dinner, if it should fall in Venice, they can treat you very nicely at www.anticomartini.com - - the website might seem a little bit over the top, but it really is nice for a special occasion there.

Good morning, Arena
Two aditional ristorante suggestions:
VENICE
La Carvella, San Marto ,via XXII, Marzo, 2396 excellant ristorante in the Hotel Saturnia about two blocks west of the Pza S. Marco.
FIRENZE
Trattoria Da Celestino, Pza. S. Felicita, 4 r just around the corner from the Borgo Jacopo and the south end of the Ponte Vecchio..
Mama Gina and Cionghale are both excellant additional choices.
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il.

Thanks for all of the great advice. Lungarno Hotel was great with all reservations but was charging 15E per ticket for the Uffizi and Academia, for some reason this seemed like a high up charge but in the realm of it all, really?
I will try for tickets around 3:00 their time, thanks. I may have been at their lunch hour. Keep the advice coming! I leave in 24 hours. Arena

Mike,
Did you find any especially good restaurants in San Gimignone?

Thanks,
Amy

ttt

Did we ever get a trip report from Arena?