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Published: September 3rd 2007
view from hotel
Yes, this was the view from our hotel window!We arrived a bit rejuvinated in Florence, so I opted to walk from the train station to our hotel: address Piazza Duomo 1. It only took us 15 minutes to walk there, but the sidewalks were quite packed with tourists, and our backpacks were getting bigger and heavier as the days wore on. However, when you can see the Duomo not too far off, the hotel was not difficult to find. We were given the most amazing room on the top floor with a view of the Duomo, right out of our window...without needing to hang out of the window and crane our necks! Once again we showered, changed clothes and set off for our evening meal. The date was August 21st, and as some of you know, was the fourth anniversary of Al's death. He and I had had such an amazing time in Florence on our trip here 8 years ago, so Nolan and I had a wonderful dinner and toasted to his great life. The next day, we lit a candle and gave an offering in his memory at the Duomo. On Wednesday, August 22nd, we started off on a walk across the Ponte Vecchio, which was a
Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio early in the morning...no tourists! great choice as it wasn't terribly crowded early in the morning. We found ourselves at the Pitti Palace, and bought tickets to tour the Boboli Gardens...again a great choice, as it gave Nolan a chance to run around and get some energy out. We saw amazing landscaping, sculptures, and fountains as well as a porcelain and costume museum. We then headed back to the historic center, toured the Duomo, and headed off toward the Academia to see the statue of David. I think this is where the historical significance of the trip really hit Nolan. Not only was he really excited about the story of how this magnificant work of art was created, he also was able to relate it and other works of art of the time period to the stories he'd heard in church. We also saw a wonderful exhibit of historical musical instruments and a computerized presentation that related music of the time period. Nolan was able to play music by Mozart that he'd heard and understand how it related to the artwork he was seeing...it was so cool to see the lightbulb going on in his head! After that, and some much needed rest, we headed
Palazzo Pitti
The Pitti Palace was wonderful off for another walk around the historic center and took in Santa Croce and Santo Spirito, and somehow stumbled upon a little yard and bead shop run by a woman who used to live in Seattle. Yes, I plunked down some euro in that shop! After having a fun photography session with many cars, statues and pigeons, we wandered around looking for a nice dinner. As we sat down for dinner, I had the most incredible sense of deja vu....I realized that we were sitting in the same restaraunt that Al and I had eaten in eight years ago. So, once again, we raised our glasses (of Fanta and wine) in Al's honor....life's little miracles. On Thursday morning, we woke to rain, but had a few hours before we needed to check out of our hotel, so Nolan chose to climb to the cupola of the Duomo. I had doubts that he'd be able to make it all the way up the 467 steps, but he was determined! He made it the whole way with no complaints, and some wonderful photos from the top. Thanks to the rain, there were fewer people out and about....not many other Oregonians there that
Amazing views
View of the historic center from Pitti Palace day! We opted to walk to the train station, and catch the next train to Rome so we'd arrive early enough to find our way to Francesca's apartment in daylight.
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