I just returned from my glorious vacation and wanted to thank everyone for all the suggestions and tips; they were invaluable. Your wisdom and generosity in sharing information helped make things so much easier for me. Thank you!
I have found other people's reviews very helfpul in my own planning so will give a brief run down of some of the highlights (in parts)....
Florence-- 2 nights at Hotel Lorena, triple room for 90 euro. Perfect location, near the train station and the Duomo. Very nice room, quiet, overlooking the small square with its daytime market place.
Took the Original Walking tour of Florence (guide Sylvia), the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia Tours (both with guide Sara). All were great, informative tours, with charming, knowledgable guides. Really helped me understand how to look at and interpret art. Highly recommend.
Rome -- 6 nights. Rented apartment through Sleepinitaly.com. Perfect location near the Piazza Navona on Monte Vecchio. We loved this spot so much and, although we tried, we couldn't find a neighborhood we liked better than our own so didn't venture far away at night for our dinners and many glasses of vino. Lively without being too chaotic. Just right.
took the walking tour with Jason Spiehler with Tours of Rome. average tour. While Jason was knowledgable and seemed very nice, he kept making the mistake fatal to all tour guides--turning his head toward the thing he was talking about while explaining it, thus projecting his voice away from the group. I heard about 50% of what he was saying. Stops also seemed to lack continuity and were haphazard. It was a disappointment considering how highly regarded he is on this site.
Tours of Ancient Rome and the Vatican, both with Angel Tours of Rome (guide Kenneth). Fascinating tours of amazing places. Kenneth had the perfect wit, charm and stories for a guide. The Forum was probably my favorite of all the sites in Rome and Ken made everything come alive.