Day 17: Firenze

When she found out we were headed to Europe, Brooklyn had one request: Florence.  She'd read a cute novel Love and Gelato and was anxious to see all the places referenced.  We chose our AirBnB in Montespertoli because of its proximity to Florence, just 30 minutes away.  With Florence being such a priority, it's pretty funny that it took until the very end before we finally made it.  I think everyone would agree that Firenze was worth the wait.

But wait!  I'm getting ahead of ourselves.  Before heading into the city we enjoyed a nice breakfast as we cleaned out the refrigerator.  Jason was pretty proud of himself for acquiring that yummy bread.  It involved a long line and elbowing his way through a crowd of Italian women, but he conquered.

Meanwhile, Annika went through all the recycling to engineer a parachute for her egg drop from the fifth floor balcony.  The egg came through unscathed.

Oh, and let's not forget how we all had to take our Binax Covid tests in order to get back into the United States.  We purchased these test kits back in the United States and dragged them all the way across Europe knowing that we would need them at the end.  There was a little bit of drama when Jason became disconnected from the virtual guide during his test, but it all worked out in the end.  Needless to say, we were so relieved when everyone's results came back negative.

With all the essentials taken care of, we finally made it to Florence.  Brooklyn had arranged a great walking tour for us, beginning with an overlook of the city from the Piazzale Michelangelo.  Can you tell it's a bit bright?

Jason and I loved Florence decades ago on our honeymoon.  Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like for us to glimpse into the future and see us in the same place with our children.  I think it would have made us smile.

Looking out at the Ponte Vecchio.

Jason did a great job explaining all of the Renaissance architecture to our children.  They were intrigued by the history.

For example, we noticed a placard right below the second story windows marking the water level of the 1966 flood of the Arno.  It's hard to imagine everything completely under water.

Emerging onto a plaza, we became distracted by this beautiful Basilica di Santa Croce and decided to venture inside...after eating our fresh peaches.

When we purchased our admission tickets, we had no idea that we would discover the burial place of so many notable Italians, including Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante, Rossini, and Machiavelli.  This is Michelangelo's tomb.

We passed through Brunelleschi's Capella de Pazzi and enjoyed Vasari's Last Supper.

This beautiful painting was completely caked in mud during the 1966 flood and left in storage for years until the technology advanced enough for it to be cleaned and restored.  Now it hangs on a pulley system that can lift it quickly to safety should flood waters ever rise to dangerous levels again.

Coming out of the church/museum we were ready for some lunch.  Fortunately we found a local artist who gave us a great recommendation for Doner Kebab.  It was so tasty that we suggested the restaurant owner open a branch in Salt Lake as well.

As for the local artist, we enjoyed his art so much that we came back and purchased two of his original works--our only real souvenirs.

Brooklyn then took the lead as we continued our walking tour to Il Duomo.

Here you can see the baptistery to the left with the cathedral behind.  Brunelleschi's dome is in the background with Giotto's bell tower to the far right.

The massive scale and attention to fine detail is incredible.

My only regret is that I didn't reserve tickets for Brunelleschi's Dome.  By the time I got online to purchase them, they were already gone.  I also should have kept a closer eye on the time.  Entrance to the cathedral is free, but it was closing as we arrived.  Ah well.  It gives us a great excuse to come back.

You may notice Jason is absent from these pictures.  The poor guy ended up running all the way back to the car because we suddenly remembered that we'd forgotten to pay the parking meter.  

No ticket!  Leaping for joy in front of the Tower of Arnulfo.

We may not have had time to visit the Uffizi, but we did salute Medusa, the Sabine Women, and David (naturally).

Our favorite, though was Il Porcelino.  Rub his snout to ensure a return to the City of Art.

Annika may not have been in the mood for a carousel in Lyon, but she was super enticed by the frilly pink ponies here.

Our next stop was the Ponte Vecchio where we watched a few gondolas navigate the river.

Our favorite destination, however, was the Santa Trinita Gelateria.  We walked a long way to find this ice cream shop that came highly recommended by Aunt Christy and Uncle Ben.  Totally worth it!  It was the best gelato we ate during our entire European vacation, and that's really saying something.

Dusk was falling as we made our way back to the Piazzale Michelangelo.  All sorts of people were gathered to watch the brilliant sunset.

Firenze doesn't actually mean fire in Italian, but the sky was beautifully aflame nonetheless.

With hearts full of gratitude for this magnificent world, we said arrivederci to Florence with hope that we will be back again some day.