The Sweet Life: Florence

Next stop, Firenze (Florence)! Florence is a beautiful city....a great mix of the older with the new. Our hotel was just outside of the square that the Duomo (cathedral) was in....such a great location! The cathedral had an awesome interior, that photographed beautifully. We also climbed Giotto's tower, which sits right beside the cathedral. It had some amazing views, but man was it a daunting climb! It was probably needed to burn off all the pasta and gelato we had been eating.

Our first night there, while eating dinner, I noticed this cute little old Italian man (who was dining alone) kept on looking at us and smiling. He finished eating before we did and then came over to us and started speaking to us in English. The funny thing was that even though he was Italian, he spoke with a British accent when speaking English. We found out this was because he late wife was British. He was so sweet and funny! He told us he was an optometrist and had a shop right near the Duomo. So he and Don had lots to talk about since he is an optometrist too! His shop was right by our hotel too, so we told him we would go visit him one day at his shop. We went to see his shop one day and he was cracking me up b/c he was flirting with these British women who were also in his shop.

One evening, we went up to this place called Piazzale Michelangelo, where you can see incredible panoramic views of the city. After snapping some pics of the view...we headed over to a restaurant that also overlooked the city for a great meal.

We had a little time in Florence to do some shopping...which I really enjoyed! I had heard about the great, cheap leather market here and was on a mission to find a leather purse. I found one and got a really great deal, considering it really is genuine Italian leather. It was probably one of the only things that I could buy in Europe that was cheaper than what I could buy in the States....since I could bargain with the shops at the market. I also enjoyed browsing around a food market in Florence where they had everything from vendors with meat, pasta, olive oils, to flowers. I also enjoyed seeing all the local artists who set up some of their work on the streets and would also paint.

Some of the best art in Italy is in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery. We had planned a day to see this gallery along with the Accademia Gallery (where David is) while in Florence. Unfortunately, the day we had tickets for...there was a strike...meaning the museums were closed. AH! We visited the Boboli Gardens instead, which were pretty cool to see. Luckily, the next day we were able to postpone our departure for Rome for later in the day, so we could use our tickets for that day instead. Success! (Although we didn't make it to the Accademia, sadly.)

One funny thing that happened was that every night, in a square near our hotel, we would hear this loud music, crowds clapping, and someone blowing a whistle. Of course, this would go on while we were trying to sleep too. Ha. One night we decided to go check it out to see what in the world was going on. Apparently, it was this street performer who does his show on that street every night. He did a sort of comedy routine where he got the crowd involved. Including, involving Ryan and Don...where Don got tricked into giving him a kiss on the cheek....which then the guy proceeded to whip his head around at the last second to give Don a kiss on the lips. HA, so funny. Unfortunately, I didn't join the show until later, so I missed all this. All I have seen is pictures. They are kind of blurry...but you get the gist.

One of our favorite restaurants of the trip was here in Florence. Ryan's boss at work recommended it and it was so delicious! They had an option on their menu where you could get a sampler of 5 different pastas...the same thing for their salads and desserts. Everything was SOOOO good. They also have a location in San Diego & Washington D.C. We WILL be traveling to one or both of these cities someday...specifically to eat at this restaurant again! :-)