Florence and the Opera at Midnight

Since we are a few days behind in our postings we will try to catch you up on the latest from the trip for our day in Florence and our first day in Rome. The pace of the trip and trying to catch up with the original itinerary is leading to a number of late nights and early mornings, which by day 5 are finally catching up with us. Every morning we say "We need to get to bed at a decent hour tonight" and every night we find ourselves strolling the town until midnight and 1:00am. These are the hours were you see less tourists and more residents coming out to enjoy the best that their city has to offer. It is fun being a part of that mix and to share moments with locals outside of the hustle and bustle of the day. But I digress. :)

Day 3 found us taking the high speed train to Florence early in the morning. The trip taking only taking an hour and a half, we arrived in Florence at 8AM. We strapped on our bags and took the short walk to the hotel. We had previously let the hotel know that we would need baggage storage, a quick check-in at the hotel and we dropped the bags to start the days adventures. To orient ourselves to the city and see many of the main sites we opted to do a Rick Steves walk around town. Though slightly cheesy at times, they are great walks for seeing the true parts of the city and getting the brief history as to why the sites are important. His guides for specific museums have also saved quite a bit of money and time as we have not had to spend extra money to purchase audio tours.

We started at the Duomo in the city center and learned a bit about the main church and its significance in the life of the city. It has been fun to watch the first reactions of Susanne and Christyn as we turn the corner from an small alley revealing the architectural masterpieces before us. The Duomo is large, the 4th largest in the world and is tightly surrounded by the city. So you really don't have a warning that you are approaching it, until wow there it is. The church is covered in pink and green marble which gives it a unique look when compared to other European churches. We walked down the main shopping street to another church (Orsanmichele), which we learned was originally a place where people could buy grain for their horses. Over time the real estate in the area made it too valuable to continue as a marketplace, and the arches leading to the streets were covered in to make the building a church. Each of the 14 archways were made into niches and local artists were hired to design statues to fill in the niches. As we admired and listened to the audio guide, an older Italian gentlemen relaxing on the nearby steps causally engaged Michelle in conversation. A quintessential Italian look to him, made for a great photo opt - Christyn got the best photo. We had to drag Michelle away to continue on our journey.

Popping in and out of various landmarks we pass works of art that continue to inspire awe in all of us...and it is all there for us to see. Reaching the Arno River, the views of the Ponte Vecchio with all of its buildings clinging to the bridge makes for a serene picture. As our audio guide tour ends, we pinch each other to remind us it is real and it is happening. The troubles of the airport quickly fading as new memories take hold. This is why we travel, to enjoy the beauty that unfolds around us with each new step. The Ponte Vecchio area is a tourist haven, but you cant help but get caught up in the sights and sounds as the beauty surrounds us. We drop into a few shops and start filling our bags with delightful reminders of where we are. One planned stop is a stationary store where they demonstrate how that make a unique oiled designed paper.

After a gelato stop and a infamous spoon incident, we start a stroll through the massive Boblini Gardens above the Pitti Palace. At the top of the gardens the views allow both great city views in one direction and in the other a hint of the Tuscan countryside. We wandered through the gardens for two hours and then strolled over to the Bardini Gardens, covered under the same ticket.

The early mornings and late evenings taking their toll, we stopped for take away Margarita Pizza and headed back to the hotel...it took longer than needed as Tim struggled to get his bearings. But as we wandered through the streets, Michelle stopped us and pointed down a street and said to Tim "Remember this place?" No he thought, I cant even remember if I had breakfast right now. Sleep deprivation was definitely hitting us hard. She pointed down a side street and reminded Tim of a restaurant that they had enjoyed in a previous trip. Once we verified that it was,  dinner plans were set. We then crashed at the hotel for a mid-afternoon nap.

 After a 5:30 alarm went off, we were back at it. We opted to let Christyn sleep while Susanne nod Tim went to the train station to secure tickets for the next day.  Michelle stayed behind to find a hotel. Within 20 minutes Susanne was back up and trying to wake Christyn up. I turns out, the market that we thought was open until 1pm actually closed at 6:00pm. Shopping at the market was the one thing Christyn really wanted to do, and we would be leaving too early in the morning for her to catch it on our way before the train. Michelle and Christyn then went to the market while Susanne rejoined Tim and headed to the train station.

It is amazing the kinds of deals you can get when you go right at closing time. Either that, or Christyn is a master negotiator. Or perhaps the retail prices are so inflated that everything looks like a steal. Or some combination of the three. Christyn bough scarves that were listed at 15 euros each for 3 for 20 euros and a purse originally listed at 35 euros for 15 euros. Within 20 minutes she had finished a good portion of her shopping list for friends and we were headed back to the room.

Once Tim and Susanne arrived from the train station we set out for dinner. The dinner was at a place called Osteria Zio Gigi where the owner is also the server and will bust out in very loud singing as he waits on the various tables. If he takes a liking to your table expect to be serenaded. If you can't make it to La Scalia in Milan, Zio Gigi is an excellent alternative. His wife is the perfect sarcastic foil to his over the top character. Our favorite line from her,  when we asked if he was going to be singing tonight was "If you call that loud noise singing!" That combined with good food makes for a memorable experience. With bellys full we headed back to the room. After a quick shower, the booking of a hotel room and packing up for the next morning we all crashed out in bed. Another full day, and tomorrow we will be in Rome!