Oops - things got a little crazy over here and I forgot to post my Florence blog! Well, before going to Florence I had heard all good things about it. Many "oohs and ahhs" escaped from the lips of those that had been before. Sherri and I had about a day and a half to spend wandering Florence so we had to be very selective with our plans.
First things first - we didn't go to any museums. I know, for shame, the horror! However, like I have said before, I'm a walking around and seeing the sights, people, and food type of girl. I love museums but when it comes down to a time crunch a leisurely stroll will beat out a museum any day. I did see 2 of the David replicas in Florence so at least I have that.
Day 1 we arrived in the afternoon and headed out to get our bearings. First we stopped at an ATM for some cash. As Sherri was at the machine, 3 vans pulled up in front and all kinds of people starting hopping out and coming towards us. My first thought was that we were about to witness "The Italian Job" up close and personal. I just leaned over to Sherri and whispered "this bank might be getting robbed in a minute". Then they started to unload cameras, tripods, and actors. Turns out a movie was filming...whew! 
We then headed towards the Ponte Vecchio which although isn't stunning in its beauty, has a very interesting history that goes all the way back to the 1300's. From the picture you can see what looks like houses that are built on the bridge. These are actually little shops that today sell mostly gold...but in the past these were all butchers. You can also see an area above the shops that spans the bridge - this is a walkway that was built at the request of the Medicis so that they would not have to walk through the common area and see/hear/smell the butchers below.After crossing the bridge we had the option of taking back roads or the main road to head up to Piazzale Michelangelo. We chose the back roads since the guidebook said that we would walk on cobblestone roads through vineyards and a monastery. Sounded lovely and it was...however sunset was fast approaching and we wanted to be at the Piazzale for the "breathtaking sunset views". Upon consulting our guidebook we read that our back road experience was a little over 4 hilly miles. Probably should have read that part before getting about 1/2 way into the walk. So we continued at mallwalker speed and made it to our destination while quickly enjoying the scenery along the way. What we saw at Piazzale Michelangelo made the mini-marathon totally worth it. You can see all of Florence laid out before your eyes and at sunset it is just what the book described - breathtaking.
We stayed here for a couple of hours because it really was that beautiful. There are steps that people were sitting on and enjoying bottle(s) of wine. I wish we would have known about that beforehand because we would have done the same! Finally we decided it was time to head back and grab some dinner and then go to bed. This was the scene from a bridge as we crossed back into the city of Florence.
Day 2 we had planned a 3 hour walking tour of Florence and it was by far the best tour I have been on. I have tried to look for an online link to it but have been unsuccessful so far. If I do ever find it, I'll post it. The woman was AMAZING. She was an American that came to Florence to study Art History and ended up falling in love with an Italian and stayed...she had so much knowledge of the city and she pointed out so many little things that I would have otherwise not paid any attention to. The highlight of the tour was the Duomo with the Dome built by Brunelleschi. She told us the history of the Dome and the problems encountered while trying to build it and how Brunelleschi solved the problems with ingenious and unprecedented new solutions. The result is beautiful. Unfortunately, the Dome end of the Duomo was being cleaned so there was a lot of ugly scaffolding up around it. However, I did get a picture of the front of the Duomo. It was nice to see a church that was nothing like anything I had seen in the rest of Europe. The colors were all pastels on the outside which I didn't expect. After the tour we had time for lunch and we went to a local *hole in the wall* and had one of the best (and cheapest) meals I have ever had. I never knew a tomato sauce with mashed cauliflower could be so good - but it was heaven on a plate. We walked back to our hotel past some horses eating their lunches (so cute) to pick up our stuff and said goodbye to Italy. I look forward to returning!
*Speaking of hole in the wall - do you know how that phrase came about? I do, compliments of our previously mentioned AMAZING tour guide. Back in the days when the very rich held elaborate banquet dinners with far too much food they would give their leftovers to the hungry people of the city. In an area near the kitchen, the servants would hand out food from a hole in the wall of the home to the line of people waiting outside. Hence, those folks ate at a hole in the wall. We actually saw these holes in a few places during our tour. Interesting, no?!
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