I met my sister and her husband on the south side of the Ponte Vecchio. Robin and I were waiting with a cold magnum of Moet and glasses. I was wearing a suit coat draped over my shoulders like a cape without my arms in the sleeves, just like the Italians do. The taxi pulled up and as Craig and Joyce got out of the cab, Robin and I ran up with shouts of "ciao-bella" and tuscan hugs and kisses. It was Joyce and Craig's fifth wedding anniversary so we walked to the center of the bridge and standing at the West Side railing we drank the entire bottle of champagne. Craig said it was really good champagne, which pleased us, as he is very particular about wine.
We stayed at the Hotel Kraft about 2 kilometers west of the Ponte Vecchio. The hotel has a B & B deal and a nice pool on the roof. Every morning we would eat our breakfast surrounded by tables of people fresh off the tour bus. Joyce would always ring us while we were at breakfast and some waiter would bring me a cordless phone. All these tourists would stop their conversations and stare at me like I was some sort of elite. While Joyce was saying, "lets meet at the Duomo", I was saying "Arnie baby, how did you find me!" We had a great time and from our hotel we could walk to any place in the town.