Third Course: Florence

The train ride to Florence was easy and direct with only one bump in the road: Kiefer got off at the wrong stop, causing him to have to sprint to get back on the train before it and the rest of us left without him. After that little fright, we got to the main train terminal. As soon as we got outside, I got the same vibes as I did when we got to Rome, for it looked similar, busy and dirty. But as we walked farther into the city, my feelings diminished and got replaced by wonder. The houses and buildings were super cute and just on the 20 minute walk to our Airbnb, we crossed this beautiful bridge with a cool statue floating above a wonderful river.

Once we got to Casa de Naldi, our place, we were greeted by Ottavio Naldi, an old man who had zero knowledge of the English language. He showed us around his place using his phone to talk to us. (Thank you Google Translate!) The place was super cool, definitely the best so far. All the paintings on the wall Ottavio had done himself, and they were beautiful. There were enough beds and a full kitchen. After getting relatively settled, the boys again sat on the couch watching Rhythmic Gymnastics and Westerns while Mom and I went to the grocery store. The walk there was super cool and the streets were lined with pride and peace flags.

We then took a break, ate dinner and watched tv. Charlie and I ended up going back to the store by ourselves to get butter! Then we left to explore. Following Dad's buddy Rick Steves's instructions, we took the "Renaissance walk," which consisted of crossing Ponte Vecchio

Piazza Vecchio and Piazza de Republica, and then the great Florence Duomo. The cathedral with the golden door was amazing.

The towering dome behind it was even better (also based on the Pantheon in Rome). The whole structure was incredible!

Following Rick Steves, we went to the nearest of his gelato recommendations, Gelateria de' Neri. It was the best gelato we had had so far! We got seconds for the first time and got this delicious mango slushie that I utterly devoured. Let me recommend these flavors: Mango, Strawberry, Limone, Vanilla and Chocolate.

There we also met a family from California who recommended a small trip to the Clet museums. Clet Abraham creates art out of street signs. (A short blog-post will be put up with all the signs we saw and took pictures of, but here are two examples for now:

) After our tastebuds' party, we walked another 25 minutes, mostly up hill, to Piazzela Michelangelo with what looked like everybody else in Florence. People were everywhere, and for a good reason, for the view was magnificent. Better than any we had seen previously.

The worst part of that night was that I got eaten alive by mosquitos. 12 bites, four of which were on my hand. We got back to the Naldi and slept well, excited for the next day! That morning, we left bright and early to go to the Accademia for The David. We stood in line for quite a while, but it was worth it, for I can't even describe how amazing the statue is. Its tall muscular structure was so life-like, with veins visibly carved into David's right arm and hand. His eyes calm but alert. We all circled him multiple times, gawking at its magnificence. In fact, it was so outstanding that Kiefer went back to see it 5 different times!

(Yes, he is naked.) After The David, we went to another the Bargello museum, which held Donatello statues.

Because we were in museums all morning with lots of walking in between, we went back to our place to take a break. We watched lots of different sports and played some Gin Rumy. Kiefer also had a huge blood blister on his heel from all the walking we had been doing. After lunch at home, we followed Rick Steves's recommendation again, for dinner--Enoteca Conquinarius. Dad and Mom thought it was the best dinner they had had so far, though we kids thought it was a close second (--to Gallo Nero in Siena).

Everybody voted to go back to the last gelato place, but it was closed. So we walked back across Ponte Vecchio with only two stops: one for the Candy Lisa

,and another for Kiefer to sit and take a break after getting a little faint. We then went to a substitute gelato place. It was great, but not as delicious at Gelateria de' Neri. That night, mom accidentally booked the wrong train tickets, causing her to lose 40 Euro. The next morning, Dad checked his bag and then went to another museum, the Uffizi Gallery. He said he had a great time and a great guide, named Gioacomo.

Meanwhile, Mom took us to Clet studio to get some stickers, and to the Boboli Gardens. They were cool, though it was almost too hot to enjoy. We did see some cute baby ducklings! We met up with Dad and headed to the train station, where Mom managed to buy the right tickets this time! We were off to Ferrara!

Well done again, my lady. Now, as Scout divulged, we ate a lot of sweets on this trip. In Rome, we ate gelato every night, partly because Suzy and I had talked it up so much, but mainly to help assuage the kids in all their misgivings. In Siena, I wanted to take a break, and did--for one night. Some fancy-nancy gelateria called Venchi nabbed me that second night. But I declared, "Okay, I'm done--no more gelato for me--this whole trip." Well, then I was reading good ol' Ricky Steves, and he announces: "Italy's best ice cream is in Florence--many think they serve the world's best." Likely the greatest ice cream in the world?--the whole world?!! So, yea, we were all in. If you're counting, that's 7 out of 8 nights of gelato, and remember, we got seconds at de' Neri. Yowzers! But Florence wasn't just the place for the best ice cream. It made our tops list in many ways. Let's see, so yea, Gelateria de' Neri, as you can probably guess, that was the best gelato we had all trip--and, yes, the best ice cream Suzy and I have ever had. And the substitute gelateria we went to (when de' Neri was closed the second night)--that tied for our second best on the trip--tied with Venchi in Siena (--I'm pretty sure, by the way, Venchi is a Florence-based franchise)... Anyway, the meal we had on the second night in Florence, was at the top of our list, too. The David was our top vote-getter for the best single piece of art, and that sunset view of Florence from Piazzela Michelangelo, that was our second favorite vista. Indeed, Florence was voted our overall favorite city in Italy, and it wasn't really even close... But, as your server tonight, I must make sure you understand, you're only on your third course of our Italy trip--the third of seven. A respectable position, no question, and to tell you the truth, I had figured and hoped it was going to be our main course (--it was my favorite city when I visited Italy twenty years ago); but just as it is hard to conceive of a seven-course meal, and just as life is wont to thrill us most when we don't expect it, so we were not really prepared for what was coming next. Oh, man, grab your camera, collect your smiles, go to the bathroom if you need, but make sure you leave some room for the second half of tonight's feast...