Freezing in Florence!!

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After a wonderful night's sleep we all dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. We certainly got our money's worth here. They had a terrific coffee machine and I personally had four cups of cappuccino! The girls feasted on cereal, croissants, and juice. The previous day we had to decide how to spend our day today. I lobbied for a trip to nearby Lucca. But yesterday when we saw the cathedral Jonathan was seriously impressed. My response: it's nice but the one in Florence is better (perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut). Thus, we went to spend the day in Florence. Unfortunately because it was a Monday all of the great museums were closed but we had no big agenda except to wander around the city, eat some good food and see the Duomo.

We caught a train around 10:30 for an hour long ride to Florence. In all of our travels this was the first country where we had to pay for the two older ones on the train (though it was only about $5 combined for them). We had a peaceful ride with our little travelers and once in the city set out for the Duomo. This cathedral ranks up there as icons of Italy. The church's full name is Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore and it is the world's fourth largest cathedral. Begun in 1296 it took almost 150 years to complete. The green, white and pink stone on the outside of the cathedral make it a picturesque sight to see. Once inside the architect's dome is illustrated by Giorgi Vasari and Federico Zuccari and the fresco they created depicts the Last Judgment. Throughout the church are various other frescoes that are tributes to Dante, a native of Florence. The floor of the cathedral is almost as striking as the ceiling with various inlays of the same colors of marble.

Once inside Jonathan and Emma decided to climb the 426 steps up to the top of the dome while I (having done it previously) decided to stay behind with the little two. The church, though inside and away from the blustering winter winds, was not warm in the least. We walked, shopped and colored while waiting for our fellow travelers to return. They had a terrific time on their walk to the top and Jonathan was so happy he took the extra time (and energy) to do that with Emma. After the cathedral it was hard to do anything else to top it, so instead we decided to track down something for a late lunch (breakfast had now tided them over until 3:30!). We wandered away from the main square towards the river and ended up at a fantastic little restaurant full of Italians. We ordered two pizzas to share and a carafe of wine. The pizza was insanely delicious and Jonathan and I had to actually grab scraps from the girls to get our fill. Once finished we were thoroughly warmed through and we headed towards the River Arno.

Had it been a warmer day we would have wandered across the river to the Piazza Michelangelo for another great view of the city (I had been there before as well) but it was just too cold. We walked through the Palazzo Vecchio which housed the traditional seat of Florentine government. Surrounded by various old, stately buildings it is indeed quite beautiful with the fountains. The girls really like the Salone dei Cinquecento (16th century Hall) and all of the statues done by de'Rossi which depict the labors of Hercules. We walked along the river and across the Ponte Vecchio which is covered in jewelery stores. Again, my intrepid travelers are big into window shopping and they thought this was a fun spot. Once again though the winds started to blow and we decided to head back towards the train station. However, along the way we passed a gelateria blowing warm air from its doors and decided we had to stop and indulge the kiddies in some special Italian treats.

We rode that sugar high all the way to the train station and I read to the girls on the way back to Pisa. Once the sun had gone down the winds seemed to stop and like the previous night it was beautiful and crisp. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and headed out for dinner. As no place was open until 8pm we wandered the streets and ended up by the Leaning Tower, hoping to see it lit up. Surprisingly it wasn't but it killed some time and worked up an appetite. We ended up at Ristorante La Clessidra, as recommended by our guidebook. Once again the food and the wine were sensational. Jonathan had gnocchi as a primi and ravioli for his main course. I had a seafood risotto (yum). However, the service wasn't great and the girls were really beyond tired after two late nights and two days of walking in the cold. They pushed through though and ate a great dinner and promptly collapsed into bed. While they slept we enjoyed some more wine and discussed how we are ever going to go home after doing all of this traveling.

The next morning we slept in a little and then made our way to breakfast. We had a midday flight home so we really just had time to wander the city a little as we made our way to the airport. Though the flight was delayed out of Pisa they made good time and we were back in Belgium in no time. It did feel good to be back "home". We made all of our various connections to get us from Charleroi to Leuven where we biked home and made a quick meal before bath and bed. I am so glad it worked for us to take this little trip, possibly our last. The girls got to see country number eight, cross a much anticipated sight off their list and really enjoy some seriously good eats.

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Photos

Emma in the Duomo
Emma and Jonathan both spent a lot of time photographing the intricate tile work in the floor.

Jonathan and Abigail
In Florence on the River Arno.

Mountain View
This is a look out the window of our plane as we went over the Swiss Alps. WOW!!!

Comments

[Mom]

White Mountains???
WOW is right...and I thought the White Mountains were impressive!!!

[Deb]

mmm...Italia!
Merry Christmas to you all. I love reading about your adventures. xoxo.