The Ponte Vecchio is about the only thing Hector knew about Florence apart from its correct name. Allegedly there is a famous astronomical armless statue in a museum no doubt. I did not really care about that, nor did Marg. The city had a great atmosphere around the Duomo, I was having a good enough time. One should always leave a reason to return.
The booking company I used back in 2004 was Venere.com. They had done the dirty on us and cancelled our accommodation at the last minute. The place we were in brought the breakfast to the room on a tray. At least we were central.
The micro-brewery, Il Bovaro was across the river and not too difficult to find even before Smart-phones made finding them easy and has removed the need for planning.