Italy Second stop: Florence

The second stop on our Italian adventure was Florence.

We somehow got on the slow train that took 3 hours, rather than the fast train that would have gotten us there in 1.5 hours. But it wasn’t too bad. We were able to nap, and look at travel books before we got there.

Once we found our hotel and settled in, we made out way to the Piazza Michelangelo to see Florence from outside the city. Despite the clouds and a few sprinkles, the view was amazing. I also visited Florence the first time I was in Italy but didn’t get to see the city like this.

We walked back through the gardens, down the hill and back into the city. As we were walking along the Ponte Vecchio, we saw some kind of party set up on the opposite river bank. Everyone was dressed in white, and suddenly some ballerinas came out to do a show. But they were all men, dressed in tutus and tights. They had the audience dying with laughter and even had an encore presentation prepared.  I wish I had the video, but my camera’s video quality wasn’t very good.

We walked through the city where we listened in on a concert in the Piazza della Republica (later found out it was the band Simple Minds and the concert was for the opening of the Florence Hard Rock cafe). We enjoyed the evening as it turned dark with a cup of gelato and beer, sitting on the steps of Santa Maria del Fiore.

The next day we woke up early to go to the San Lorenzo Market and the Mercato Centrale.

I bought a wallets for me and Taylor at the Market, and spent the rest of the time just amazed at all the beautiful goods. Inside the Mercato Centrale, we explored, bought some goodies to bring home, and bought the fixings for a picnic lunch.

For our picnic lunch we stalked out a picnic bench just outside the Duomo and enjoyed a spread of 2 kinds of bread, 3 kinds of cheeses, figs, olives, tomatoes, and wine.

After lunch we weren’t too stuffed to climb the 414 steps of Giotto’s Bell Tower at Santa Maria Del Fiore. I climbed the tower before, but there were several reasons to do it again. First, the line to climb to the top of the Duomo was wrapped around the building, and would have meant hours of standing around waiting to enter. And second, you get beautiful views of the Duomo while you’re climbing the bell tower. So we paid our money and headed right up, since there was no line.

Climbing the bell tower isn’t for the faint of heart though. The stairway is narrow, and often you have to stop to catch your breath let others pass.

The view is beautiful half way up.

And at the top.

Gotta take a picture for proof that you made it.

The countryside is just beautiful and I just can’t help but wonder what kind of place had a fire going (see the smoke?)

We even saw them cleaning up from the previous night’s concert from way up there.

I can’t describe it, but I really like Florence. Probably better than Rome. Both trips I didn’t spend more than two nights, but I still a real connection to Florence. It’s not nearly as touristy or busy as Rome, and also not quite as spread out. So it’s sort of easy to feel at home.

Here we all are, catching our breath before we start our descent. We all felt incredibly out of shape, so we were relieved to see almost everyone at the top huffing and puffing.

After we climbed down (which is much easier than going up!) we busied around the market a little more and visited the Santa Maria Novella Perfumery and hunted down a place to have dinner before calling it a night since the following day, we’d have a 6 hour train ride.

So, here’s a gratuitous shot of my quattro stazione pizza…artichoke, prosciutto, mushrooms and olives.

Next stop is hands down my favorite, so I can’t wait to tell you about it.

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