Our room at the Miltontre had a typical high ceiling and large 10 foot window with wooden shutters. Next to the window was a small cute square wooden table which I looked forward to having our family breakfast on since our arrival. Maybe it was because we were in Italy, I was starting to love the little touches. The house keeper left us with a variety of juices, bread, and biscuits. I brewed a cup of tea, mixed oatmeal with honey, and cut up some tomatoes, cucumbers and peaches we picked up from the mini market last night. Breakfast was served and enjoyed!
After breakfast, we headed for Firenze town centre but without a specific destination in mind. We quite literally stumbled upon the biggest attraction here: the Florence Cathedral, although it was hard to miss. This church had a very in your face presence. Since it was nestled within small narrow streets, it couldn't be admired from afar to help one take in the grandness of the church in one frame. Instead we were "forced" to have a close encounter and we couldn't help noticing the awe inspiring elaborate and intricate exterior walls.
The lineup to get into the church wasn't too long at 10:30AM. 15 minutes later, we were inside. The inside was beautiful. But nothing compared to the outside or the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. We did notice another line up coming from another entrance. We exited the church to find out what it was. As suspected, it was for going up the to the tower via some over 400 steps of stairs. The lineup was way longer and moved slower than the one getting inside the church. Drake was not going to tolerate that. We didn't even bother checking the admission cost and instead opted for another gelato break next to the really long line.
We walked around the streets of Firenze aimlessly sprinkled with a little souvenir shopping.
Before we knew, it was time to pick a lunch spot. Drake fell asleep in his stroller so we ate in peace at Carrozze Olim near Piazza Santa Trinita. Greg had the mushroom pasta. I went for a nice salad with fine vinegar and olive oil (only option for salad dressing in Italy and the only way to eat salad).
Drake woke up just before we finished our lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day so we decided to feed Drake his lunch in the piazza. While Drake chowed down on cheese, two street performers were setting up to perform. The skinny blond woman started belting out the haunting tunes of Ave Maria with a man on accordion. They had the attention of the entire piazza. We sat and allowed ourselves to love this moment and love Firenze.
The opera singer was about third song in before a tiny police car showed up. She gave the cops a very sad look and knew they now had to pack up. It was probably a good thing for us since we would've probably stayed forever.
We then moved on to see THE Ponte Vecchio. The colourful and picturesque bridge was so quaint from a distance until a closer look. The bridge was full of gold jewelry shops and packed full of tourists.
More just aimless wondering the streets of Firenze. Drake was out of his stroller and running around like a wild man. I noticed a wet spot on his khakis pants. Indeed he had peed through his pants. We found a discreet corner and quickly changed Drake's diaper. We have gotten this changing diaper without a flat surface thing down to a system, a routine. But I forgot to pack a pair of spare pants so the aimless wondering now had been upgraded to mission-find-Drake-pants. Lucky we were not too far from the shopping district. For 15e at Zara we got Drake a pair of skinny euro-jeans. We had to put it on him right at the till. It was a little embarrassing. Oh well, we couldn't be the first parents who had a pants-less child in public.
Downgraded back down to aimless wondering again we stumbled upon Palazzo Vecchio, the old town hall where the original David statue by Michelangelo used to reside. It's since been moved to Gallery of the Academy but a replica of the statue has been replaced in its original spot. We didn't bother going in as it was getting late in the afternoon, but there were many statues outside and around the piazza to enjoy.
We wrapped up our day after getting a book of masterpieces from Uffizi Gallery souvenir shop for my dad. Unfortunately, there was no time for us to visit the gallery itself.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
After breakfast, we headed for Firenze town centre but without a specific destination in mind. We quite literally stumbled upon the biggest attraction here: the Florence Cathedral, although it was hard to miss. This church had a very in your face presence. Since it was nestled within small narrow streets, it couldn't be admired from afar to help one take in the grandness of the church in one frame. Instead we were "forced" to have a close encounter and we couldn't help noticing the awe inspiring elaborate and intricate exterior walls.
The lineup to get into the church wasn't too long at 10:30AM. 15 minutes later, we were inside. The inside was beautiful. But nothing compared to the outside or the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. We did notice another line up coming from another entrance. We exited the church to find out what it was. As suspected, it was for going up the to the tower via some over 400 steps of stairs. The lineup was way longer and moved slower than the one getting inside the church. Drake was not going to tolerate that. We didn't even bother checking the admission cost and instead opted for another gelato break next to the really long line.
Drake woke up just before we finished our lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day so we decided to feed Drake his lunch in the piazza. While Drake chowed down on cheese, two street performers were setting up to perform. The skinny blond woman started belting out the haunting tunes of Ave Maria with a man on accordion. They had the attention of the entire piazza. We sat and allowed ourselves to love this moment and love Firenze.
The opera singer was about third song in before a tiny police car showed up. She gave the cops a very sad look and knew they now had to pack up. It was probably a good thing for us since we would've probably stayed forever.
We then moved on to see THE Ponte Vecchio. The colourful and picturesque bridge was so quaint from a distance until a closer look. The bridge was full of gold jewelry shops and packed full of tourists.
Downgraded back down to aimless wondering again we stumbled upon Palazzo Vecchio, the old town hall where the original David statue by Michelangelo used to reside. It's since been moved to Gallery of the Academy but a replica of the statue has been replaced in its original spot. We didn't bother going in as it was getting late in the afternoon, but there were many statues outside and around the piazza to enjoy.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Florence
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