Heading off in the morning to another city is always full of questions. Did we see enough in the current city, what did we miss, will we ever be back, what will the next city be like, do we know where we are going, what will we see and do?
Our next city was no different we boarded a train to Florence or as Italy calls it Firenze. our room was close to the train station and Piazza del Duomo We arrived before check in with hungry bellies, naturally we stoped for Chinese at Restaurant Peking. Even though the Italian cuisine is amazing sometimes you need a wheat break.
Our apartment had a large rooftop patio which we enjoyed as much as we could. Breakfast on the patio, drinks on the patio, resting in the sun on the patio, petting the neighbors rooftop cats, of course on the patio.
Below our apartment was a Limonoro store. It you find one of these go in immediately. They have samples of chocolate, candies, cookies, savory truffle sauces, salts, and condiments, and some amazing flavored liquors. Everything was delicious! We hit up the one in Venice and the one here multiple times.
Our first night in Florence consisted of roaming the area, stoping in some shops, admiring the Duomo cathedral, and eating gelato. we even caught a street puppet show.
On our first full day we had a walking tour in the morning and a food tour in the afternoon. We don’t do them everywhere but tours of a city are a great was to get your bearings and find some good local places to go.
Our walking tour took us on a journey through the life of the Medici family. Their rise to greatness in the city is amazing. In just three generations they went from farmer landlords to popes and queens. We need to take some notes from them.
Our food tour that evening was fabulous. We tried food at Forno Bruschi, Trattoria Antilleso, Osteria Nuvoli, and RivaReno Gelato. So much food by the end our stomachs were full and our legs exhausted.
We took a walk out to Point Vecchino. Bridge and Piazza Michelangelo. This is where the original David once stood overlooking Florence. There is not a bronze copy but the views are still amazing. We all loved the water features and the views before heading back into town for lunch. Our lunch stop was a recommendation from the tour. A food cart with sandwiches and fried items. We had fried mozzarella, a Lampredotto sandwich, and a Trippa alla fiorentina sandwich. Yes, those are both traditional Florentine sandwiches made from cow intestines and they were amazing!!!
After some rest time in our apartment we headed out to explore the baptistery St. John and the Doumo Museum. Plus to climb the 400+stairs to the top of Giotto’s Bell Tower.
The museum consisted of relics from the church’s past. A full replica of the church before the remodel when it became a Cathedral. It was an interesting look into the past. A bit more history or story information would have made it even better.
The baptistery is beautiful even though they were working on the center all that was exposed was amazing. we did not get a chance to walk through the church. It closed earlier than we expected but we were satisfied with all we did see.
Our last adventure of the day was to climb Giotto’s Bell Tower. B and I climbed a couple of towers last summer and were excited to add Florence to our list. Like most towers there were some resting spots along the way to the top and each view got better and better as we reached the bells and then the walkway above the city. We enjoyed looking back at the David where we had been in the morning enjoying the opposite city view.
Our 6S Full Life 