Florence

Next stop on the family vacation: Florence, Italy

The Ponte Vecchio

My first experience in Florence was a rather exciting taxi ride. Italians are crazy drivers!  On our 15 minute ride from the airport to our hotel we almost killed a pigeon, hit a moped and ran into a few people...thankfully we got to the hotel safe and sound and nobody was hurt.  The hotel was amazing, it was part of an old castle that has been redone into a hotel and was only a few minutes walk from the Duomo.  

The Duomo

Our hotel, Hotel Brunelleschi

After getting to the hotel we went walking around to find dinner. We found a really good restaurant right on the water with a view of the Ponte Vecchio. Our waiter did this fancy thing with our wine (which was served in HUGE glasses) where he poured a bit in each glass and swirled it around for a while and then finally poured it for Dad to taste and approve and then we all got a pour. It was pretty fancy...we think it was so that when you drink out of the glass you smell the wine instead of the glass...but it very well could just be for kicks too. Either way it was pretty cool, and quite delicious. The food there was delicious and the view at night was really beautiful. It was a good start to the trip. 

After dinner we walked around the city and checked out the Duomo at night when there wasn't the usual crowd of people around. The Duomo is huge and really pretty, it still amazes me to think of these amazing buildings being built so long ago and how much time and money were put into them! 

 

It was raining the next morning, but that didn't stop us from exploring the city on our only day there. So we headed to begin our climb up the Duomo. 463 steps and a few rest stops later we made it to the top and got a major payoff.  The view of the city from above was really amazing...even if it was pouring rain.  

After the Duomo we decided to check out the markets that Florence is so famous for. We first went to the San Lorenzo market. I've never seen so much leather in one place. Because of the rain everyone was making deals...I was even offered 300% off a leather jacket!  The sales people in the market are crazy...you can't even look at something in their booth without them shoving it in your face and telling you what a good 'deal' they will give you. But it was fun to see all the leather bags, wallets, jackets and anything else you can think of.  Mom got a really nice leather bag after a bit of bargaining with the very persistent sales man. 

San Lorenzo market in the rain

Mom with the Italian salesman and her beautiful new bag!

After the goods market we went to the food market, Mercato Centrale. They have some crazy things in here like cow faces, cow testicles, chickens with their heads still on, brains etc.  They also had a lot of really good looking food, but the weird stuff was the most entertaining. 

After a bit of lunch (or gelato in Dad's case) we walked up to Michelangelo plaza. More cool views of the city, this time with the Duomo in it. We were pretty exhausted from all the walking up church domes and huge hills so we went back to the hotel to rest up a bit before meeting up with Sarah for dinner.

View from Michelangelo Plaza

6 pm and time to meet Sarah in front of the Duomo!!!!  So good to see her again : )  After meeting up we all walked around looking for a spot for dinner, Sarah and I mostly caught up while the rest of my family found the restaurant.  The waiter we ended up with loved to speak in 'texting' language...lots of OMGs and JKs.  I also got my diet coke in a huge goblet which surprised me because usually soda comes in very small doses here in Europe and with no refills. So that was a nice surprise.  After dinner Sarah, Dan and I went to sit on the steps of the Duomo and enjoy a 5 euro bottle of wine.  

Dinner with Sarah!

The next morning I woke up with an awful cold...luckily I got some extra sleep on our train ride to...CINQUE TERRE!!!