Florence

We arrived in Florence at 730 pm and immediately went to check into our B&B. Amanda was extra excited about this one because we were told we would have a shared kitchen. When we arrived the lady showed us our room. Low and behold, we were sharing a 4 bed apartment with a 10 person Russian family. Haha. We didn’t mind though. They end up being extremely friendly and their 3 kids were funny. The owner gave us a proper tour of the place, and a run through of attractions to visit with a monkey on her shoulders. The monkey kept messing with her hair and was a bit distraction. It was funny. Now when I say monkey, I mean her 3 year old son. Steven’s parents sponsors a night in the B&B. So we thank you guys for that gift. It was much enjoyed. Not 100% private, but a lot better than a hostel. After admiring the B&B we walked around to look from some Italian dinner.

We first walked to the Duomo. It’s the iconic church of the city. It’s the 4^th largest church in the world and we were very eager to see its size. As we approached it from a distance we noticed it was a bit different than we thought. While learning about Florence, we would often see pictures of this church. However, they were all taken from above it. To our best knowledge, we never saw it from the ground level. So when we did see it, we were a bit shocked. From afar, we could see it was predominantly white with stripes, similar to a circus tent. We could see the dome so we knew were at the right church, but a bit taking-a-back at the ground level exterior. Still from a distance, it looked like it was a painting. As we got closer the colors of the exterior became clear.

"Could it be that color?"

We had to walk right up to it to double check that what we were seeing was correct. Sure enough, the stripes of the white church was green. Green! Really, green? How awesome is that? A green striped church. Now why didn't I think of that? We were very intrigued.

75% of the church was white, 20% green, and about 5% had dark red accents. It was completely different from every other church we vistited. We walked around it mesmerized as the sun was setting. We couldn’t wait to see the insides the following day, but it was off the find some dinner.

After walking up and down the streets we finally found a supermarket. However, it was oriental, so that didn’t help to much. We got some wine and continued to look for an Italian take away meal. Soon enough we found a pizza joint. We ordered 2 pizzas to go and took them back to our B&B. We sat outside under the awning and enjoyed a relaxing dinner. Nearly perfect. Amanda had a smile face on the entire time. Italian is her favorite food. To finally have it and was bottle of Italian wine was a situation that was easy to smile about. 

When we woke up, we went downstairs to the bakery and received our free cappichino and crossiant. After during so, we attacked the town.

First stop was Uffizi. It’s the most famous art museum. It has a wide range of paintings and sculptures from famous Italian artist (basically the names of the 4 teenage mutant ninja turtles – Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphel, and Leonardo (Di Vinci) – haha). When we arrived, we were expecting  to pay and wait a certain amount. However, there was a looooong wait and cost a whole lot more than what we were comfortable with. The museums in London and Paris gave us a general knowledge of famous artists to pacify us for the time being.  

Nearby Uffizi is a square filled with famous sculptures (some are replicates).

Neptune

David (replicate)

Another one

Cool guy

Famous Florence bridge.

It was off to Michelangelo’s square high up on the hill to see the view of the city. Our Russian family told us to visit the site in the morning rather than the afternoon because of the sun’s location. So we made the hike. The view from the top was breathtaking. This is the highly photographed city view and one to be remembered. We took a bunch of pictures as well. Again, we have anothe\r moment where bystanders can’t take pictures. Haha. We had 4 different people try and get us and the background all at once. Guess it was too difficult. Oh well, we got a couple halfway decent ones.       

Next we climbed up a little higher to a church, visited it, and sat on one of its benches. We could have stayed there all day, but there was much more to see.

This was an Amazing day!

Instead of walking back the way we came, we decided to take a longer, more scenic route that finished in a large garden. But, when we arrived, you had a pay to enter the garden, so we moved on. We walked by a few more old churches and museums. Then it was time for lunch. We stopped by the local market to grab some bread, tomatoes, mozzarella and garlic to make an Italian lunch. After doing so we went back to the Duomo to visit the interior.

 Duomo's front here.

After a brief wait, we entered. To our surprise, the tourist filled church was lacking pews. It was completely open with tall columns on both sides. They have dailiy masses, maybe they bring in chairs at that time. Who knows? By far the best part of the church was interior painting on the dome. It had the painting of the Last Judgment. The images were surpassed by none. It was a view that could be stared at for hours upon hours. We probably gazed up with admiration for 30 minutes and had to stop due to neck fatigue. Haha. Amanda kept saying she wished she could lay down and just stare up at it. The Last Judgment depicted a painting of heaven conquering hell. The dome was an octagon. The one side shown the resurrection of Jesus, grandfather time, and mother nature. On each of the other 7 sides, displayed the 7 virtues and 7 deadly sins (one per side). The details and imagery was truly one of a kind. It was beautiful. Wish our necks could have survived longer. 

 

Following the church, we walked around some more. We passed by more museums and churches. 

This church was very unique. It had the signature white/green front with aged brick on the sides.

Next we got some gelato (ice cream). Steven got banana and chocolate/hazelnut scopes. Amanda got pistachio and chocolate/hazelnut scoops. Brilliant flavors!

We were close by Michelangelo’s square (the one on top of the hill), so we hiked back up it again. Just can’t beat those views. Our Russian friend was right, the views in dawn was better than dust because of the sun’s location.

Lastly, we went to the grocery store – and we got a story that would make grandma Rose proud. Haha. First off, Amanda wanted another Italian meal again. We finally decided on tortellini filled with prosciutto, sauce and bread to dip in garlic/olive oil. We also got a bottle of wine – Chanti – the popular Tuscan wine drunk by the locals. The “story” revolves around the bottle. First off, this bottle was sponsors by Steven’s parents. So thanks! It was the best wine of the whole trip. Secondly, we picked this wine because it was half off, with a card. We didn’t have the card, but planned on getting one at the register. When it was our time to check out we asked the Italian lady who couldn’t speak English for the form to fill out to get the card. She had an aggressive tone and in Italian told us something we couldn’t understand. To us, it sounded like, “You don’t speak Italian, you don’t live here, you can’t get the card.” We were confused but didn’t want to make a scene, so we just said whatever and paid full price for everything. After paying, the lady called over someone who could translate. We told the gentleman that these items that were on sale with a card, we asked for a card, but we couldn’t get one. He apologized but told us that since we already paid for it, it was too late for a refund. We argued a little more, the gentlemen left and when he returned, he brought good news. First, he gave us an additional box of tortellini (guess it was buy one get one free) and money back for the wine. In the end, we made out. It was a saving near 7 dollars, so it was hard just to walk away. As we walked away we heard the lady tell all her friends its wasn’t her fault, we should know Italian… and she is correct. We felt bad. It’s our responsibility to explain ourselves in their official language. Oh well, it all worked.

We got home, made the dinner and sat down for a GREAT dinner. The Chanti wine as spectacular – deep smokey and had a lot of funky aromas. Just great! After dinner we relaxed for the rest of the evening on our porch. Couldn’t ask for more.