A Little Bit of Tuscany - Day 1

We just returned from Firenze yesterday. To say this trip was much needed would be an understatement! I didn't realize how much my body, brain, mental stamina needed it until we were in the van to return. I kept trying to prolong the trip and then had tears in my eyes when I typed our address in the phone GPS. I wish I could live on vacation. Alas, I am not Rick Steves, nor am I even close. :(

We loved, loved, loved Florence! It was so full of art, amazing architecture, beautiful places of worship, yummy food and English-speaking people! It was the first time, in a long time, that we were spoken to in English more than Italian. Actually, I don't think we heard much Italian the entire weekend. In some respects, it was very nice to hear your native tongue spoken all over the place. On the other hand, we are supposed to be learning Italian! Firenze is the birthplace of the Italian language. We even saw the stone that Dante Alighieri would sit on and write/come up with the Italian language! Yet, we barely heard Italian the entire weekend. It was strange.

So, what do some crazy kids from Kentucky do in Florence, Italy?!?! Eat! See the David! Climb lots of stairs! Eat some gelato! Visit churches galore! See everything! Here is what these crazy kids did...on day 1. I started out thinking I'd type up our entire weekend in one post. That would be too long and too many pics. So, here is day 1.

First, we parked the van. Exciting, right?!?! Apparently, parking is a novelty in Florence. We paid a pretty penny to park the van for 3 nights. After the arrangements were made for pickup, we went on search for our hostel. We picked Locanda Daniel for this trip. It was perfect for our needs! It had a kitchenette, 5 beds, and a bathroom. What more could we need when we'd be exploring all day, every day? I forgot to mention the view. It was spectacular. I can't even describe it. Here are a few pictures, but they can't do it justice.

 The kids on the balcony

 The view from our balcony

 This pic cracked me up...they still haven't figured out the tall people go to the back!

 Zoomed in a little

 How beautiful can one girl be?

 What a cutie pie!

 We were discussing all the cats running around on the roofs

Night view

After getting settled, we headed out. Our first stop were the Medici Chapels. Wow! This was not the place to start when you will be seeing a gazillion churches for the weekend. This was our favorite of the chapels.

 Marble was everywhere! So were Albers' kids.

 Part of the ceiling...Adam and Eve, Jesus and all that jazz.

 Ceiling, again

They were doing some work there, as can be seen by the scaffolding.

Notes: Every chapel/museum/church had some sort of relic of some saints. There were several relics at the Medici Chapel. Generally, the relics are some bones. A few were mementos from said saint. I might still be having nightmares about seeing several of John the Baptist's fingers.

After the Medici Chapel, we headed to the Piazza del Duomo. It was overwhelming to see these amazing facades on the buildings. We saw the Baptistry first and were impressed. Then, we saw the Cathedral and the Baptistry sort of paled in comparison. Anyway, back to our excursion...here are a few pics from inside and outside of both buildings.

 I think this is a door outside of the Baptistry...but not a bronze door

 My peeps in front of the Cathedral with the Baptistry to the side

 Front facade of the Cathedral (Baptistry is building on right, Campanile is tower next to Cathedral and Duomo can barely be seen on the left in the background)

Duomo

 Painting on Duomo ceiling

 Creepy photobomber...it might look like a shot of the couple in the middle, but no. We are to the left.

 Baptistry ceiling

 Duomo Ceiling - sorry, we went back and forth. ;P

 The ceiling of one of the arches - probably the Baptistry?!?!

 J Jr. in front of the altar at the Baptistry

Baptistry doors - entrance for visitors

Same door taken with my cell phone - I think I got a few more panels

We then headed back to the Cathedral to walk through the museum that was in the basement. There was once another church at that site and this museum commemorated this church and its foundations. There were also several tombs there and an altar. You can see these in the pictures.

 Hmm, a model of the old church and the "new" Cathedral, maybe?

 Grumpy Boo, KK and Little J with the same model

 Creepy boys having fun with tombs

 Old altar

 Beautiful cross

Parts of the old church that have been unearthed

After all this fun, we needed some sustenance. We went to this cool, local spot for cheap pizza. Well, we thought it would be cheap pizza. Pizza was cheap, paying for the opportunity to sit wasn't quite as cheap. Take note, sitting at a table is never free in Italy! Never! You also never tip in Italy, so there's that. Of course, we'd never tip $12 on a $30 meal in America, so I think the Italians are making out on the deal. ;)

Sitting in the basement eating our pizza

We loved the pizzas here and the atmosphere was fun. I think the kids would have eaten here daily, had we allowed that.

After lunch, we decided to climb Giotto's Campanile. Oh boy, am I out of shape. It was 414 steps up to the viewing area. I was pretty sure I was going to die. I didn't! I am going to go ahead and note here...we did the Campanile the first day (414 steps), the Duomo Tower the second day (463 steps) and the Palazzo Vecchio Tower the third day (223 steps...once you climb several stories within the palace to get to the tower steps). I did my year's worth of stairs in one weekend. BUT, the view was worth it for every.single.one. Here are a few shots from the Campanile.

Looking up at the outside of the Campanile

 A shot of the Duomo from my cell phone at the top of the Campanile...not too shabby. ;)

The kids with one of the old bells

 A shot of the top of the tower

 KK on one of the platforms

My peeps, again. It was sunny that day. Can you tell?

 Me with my crazies.

 Wave to the people on the Duomo Overlook

 Shot of Firenze...I think the white building is the Santa Croce.

 A shot of the Palazzo Vecchio Tower

 A shot of the Duomo and surrounding area

 I think this is a shot aimed toward the River

A shot taken aiming down toward the Piazza

After this climb, we headed toward the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio. I didn't understand the appeal of the Ponte Vecchio. It is a bridge with shops on it...but every single shop is a jewelry store. By this time, we were hungry, hot and a little cranky. We found a tiny market, bought some fruit and water, and had a little snack on some steps. The kids and I were ready to head back to the hostel for a little break before dinner. Joe was not. Joe lost that battle.

After our little break, we headed out to find dinner. Within a couple minute walk from our hostel was a quaint little pizzeria. We ate outside (and subsequently froze our tooshies off until Joe ran back and got some jackets for us...my knight in shining armor!) and had a fun time. KK was starting to get a migraine, so she didn't quite enjoy the ambiance and outdoor seating like the rest of us. I guess traveling for 4+ hours, walking around all day, climbing a huge tower and getting little water was a bad combination for her. The remaining days we made sure to always have acqua on hand! I know that migraines are no fun. I hate when my girl gets one. Here are a couple shots from dinner. You'll  note KK with her head on the table. My poor girl!

 Pizza, pizza and more pizza!

This guy is so animated! This girl, not so much.

That was the end of day 1. We really, really, really enjoyed Florence and saw as much as possible while there. Buona sera, for now!

The Grind

Ciao friends and family! We are stuck in a lull, so I thought I'd post our latest happenings, even though they are less than exciting.

Joe is picking up his car today! We have been a 1 vehicle family for the last 3 months. To say I'm ecstatic would be an understatement. Even though I'm not in love with this lemon of a van, it is fulfilling its purpose of being a mode of transportation. I guess I can't expect much more out of it. I took Joe to work this morning and, of course, lights starting flashing at me on the way back home. It appears we need an oil change...2 short days before we leave for a long trip. So yeah, GREAT news. Joe is attempting to get an appointment for tomorrow so I can take it in for service. I'm less than thrilled with this prospect since my Italian skills are still infantile. Oh well!

Speaking of my Italian skills...I had two separate instances of how delinquent I am in this language today. I "tried" to pay my cell/wifi/home phone bill today. To say that things are done differently here would be an understatement! First of all, you cannot pay your bill at the store you bought said phone and services. You have to either go to a bank, post office or little vending machine thing. No, I'm not kidding. I'm dead serious. I went to the local post office, which is usually quite empty. Well, it was quite empty when we arrived but had filled up by the time we left. The only thing I could figure out was that the computer was down for paying bills and I'd have to come back later. I think ?!?! Then, shortly after arriving back home, the company that provides these services calls the home phone and tries to speak to me in Italian. I try to speak to her in English. She laughs and says, "Oh dear!" Well, I at least understood that and the fact that she was either attempting to get me to fess up to  knowing more Italian than I know OR she was asking for an Italian speaking person to get on the line. In either case, I just said, "Non capisco l'italiano." It was a short, sweet, unhelpful call. She did ask me for my telephone number...which I didn't even know! Sorry America! I am giving the whole nation a bad name.

Joe and I saw the chiropractor yesterday. We both have some weakening in our necks (ok, mine is more significant than that...arthritis is setting in and I'm starting to get rounded shoulders...ugh) and I have a weak lower back (it is shaped like an S, which would be fine if I were a snake!) and my arches are falling in my feet. Yeah, I'm falling apart. He did an adjustment and showed us some exercises, and boy am I sore! He wants me to eventually start Pilates. I'm ok with that...but am hoping we get this neck and back strengthened first! I could totally see my pulling something else out of whack.

OH, Joe and I had date night the other night! A neighbor watched the kids while we went out for dinner. She is 18 and lovely. The kids followed her around like puppies, I'm sure. She made them dinner and worked on her English while teaching the kids some Italian. Perfetto! Joe and I were needing a few hours away. It was very refreshing. Here's a pic of us in our booth at the restaurant.

Sunday, we slept in past the alarm. I think Joe turned it off and we rolled back over and fell back asleep. Anyway, we missed church which was a big bummer. It always starts the week off right to be with other believers and hear the Word. Alas, this did not happen for us. We did, however, get to the Cavalry Museum that afternoon. Can I just say, I either need to brush up on my Italian history or I need to quit visiting so many museums? I'm starting to feel like I've seen every uniform the Italian military has ever used. The pics of the training field were really cool...especially seeing the horses jump over such obstacles to look as if they were flying. They also had miniature replicas/models of the Battle of Waterloo. I must say, my favorite part was seeing the big tanks and the motorcycles. Maybe I should visit the Automobile Museum next?!?! Seems more my style.

We leave in a few days for Firenze. I am over-the-moon excited! We have a "plan of attack" and are sticking with it. LOL. Just kidding! We have a plan but are staying flexible since the weather seems hit or miss for the weekend. I would be happy just people watching, but I'm sure the kids would be "bored". The really amazing part about this trip...we just started learning about the Renaissance Period! Our book referred to Florence, Italy several times. God is so wonderful. I had no idea when we booked this trip it would fall at the same time we started learning about Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello...oh wait, that's something else! We didn't learn about Donatello. That one was just for laughs. We did look him up and discover he was an artist during the Renaissance. Those TMNT, such Renaissance Reptiles. :)

Arrivederci!