Florence - November 3-5

k:

I love Florence. I almost don't even want to talk about it, for fear that I might ruin it for all of you. I will talk about it though, and probably lots so that I can always remember how much I loved the short time I spent there. The days we spent there were great, and I really liked that it was the last place we went. In Florence there is so much to see, even though it's really small. The nice thing was though, that there is so much to enjoy just wandering, that you don't have to schedule your day so tight to get something out of your trip. 

By the end of our two week vacation I was ready just to relax and wander, and Florence was perfect for that. One sight we did see was the Duomo (the Dome). It was conveniently located about 50 steps away from our lovely hotel (which I'm sure that Eric will have lots to say about when he gets on here).

It was a bit of a climb. More than a bit actually, I think it was about 400 steps or so and they were steep skinny corridors, but what we saw at the top was so worth it. It was the most beautiful view in Italy that I saw. Possibly, one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Florence just looks like Italy. It's all old buildings, and they're all yellow and brown and have red roofs, just like I pictured. I didn't want to leave the top, and we didn't for probably about an hour. While we were up there a man told us about one of the churches across the river where the monks sing at 5:oopm. We headed over there, and we missed the monks, but we enjoyed a little snack at the second prettiest spot to see look at. It was gorgeous too. I wish we could have seen the sun set, but it was a hazy foggy day. It was cool to watch it slowly get dark though, and to watch the whole city light up bit by bit.

On Saturday we went first to the Ufizi Gallery. This museum is supposed to be a really big deal, with lots of famous art and enough of it to amuse you for a full day. After about three hours though Eric and I were just about done with that. We did see The Birth of Venus and La Premavera by Botticelli, and my favourite was Leonardo di Vinci's Adoration of the Magi. It was really cool to see the unfinished work because you could see a few of the steps he would take to finish one of his masterpieces. We had planned after that to go to a second museum, but after the bore of the first one, we decided against it. We decided our last few hours in Italy were better spent just wondering the streets of this beautiful city. Lucky for me we the smell of genuine Italian leather loured us right into a cute little market. I wanted to shop the whole time we were in Italy because it was so much cheaper and nicer than Vienna. We wondered the market for a very long time. At first Eric was really into it; seeing what bags everyone had and what price they would offer him because he's Canadian, or a student or whatever he could pull out. I could have wandered the market forever. I loved looking at and feeling all the beautiful leather creations. It was a shopping success for me, even though it took longer than Eric would have loved. I said to him just that morning that I wish there was something I needed so I could justify buying a leather version of it in Italy. While we wandered I saw and remembered two things I've actually been looking for for a long time: a really little pencil case for my scripture markers and pens, and a pair of slippers for the cold floors of our apartment. SUCCESS. I got them both, and they are both made in Italy, which makes them nice little souvenirs of this beautiful land as well.

e:

Florence was a fantastic finish to our trip. By far, I would say the Tuscan area of Italy (which includes Pisa) was the most enjoyable. It sure didn’t start out as the most enjoyable though.

Following the events of catching our train from Pisa, Katherine and I were upset at each other. Then to top off the night, when we got off the train and looked at the directions on Google maps, we found they were cut short. Discouraged, upset, and frustrated, we did manage to find the hotel after I suggested that we go as far as we could on the directions that we had. After that we wandered just a little further and Katherine spotted it.

Tired, mad, frustrated, drained of patience and energy, we spitefully took the lift together, up to the small hotel located only on the second floor. No sooner than we opened the door, were we welcomed by a clean shaven version of an Italian specking Santa Claus. I found some relief in his warm welcome. We don’t know Italian and he didn’t know English, but I got the feeling that this gentleman had mistaken us for grandchildren. After a good sleep and a little heart to heart, we were off enjoying Florence.

I ate a great stake.

By far, the best part of Florence was our evening on Michael Angelo’s hill. Overlooking the beautiful city, we ate our loaf of French bread fixed with cheese, deli meat, jam and Nutella (not all together of course, but in combos that tasted good). We watched the sun set. As the sun gradually disappeared, the city gradually lit up with lights. It was a magnificent transformation from one beautiful scene to another. We took a short walk to a nearby monastery, and then came back to our view of the city to just sit and relax.