“Through these old streets I wander dreamily; Around me Florence sweeps her busy tide of life.” -William Leighton

 

Florence, Italy

A typical Italian breakfast of a cappucino and a corneto and an early morning train ride and we were off to Florence.




Unlike the Hilton we were staying at in Venice, in Florence we opted for an Airbnb.  We wanted to stay in the heart of the city and enjoy the breathtaking views from our windows


Once we settled in it was off to explore the city.


Remaining true to our nature, our first stop was of course...  gelato.


Feeling a little perky after the sugar rush, we headed over to the Palazzo Vecchio.  This is the town hall built in 1299.


This is also the location where the original statue of Michelangelo's David stood.  It has since been replaced with a replica and the original housed in the Galleria dell' Accademia to protect it from the elements (and the graffiti artists).  

Well, of course, when Sonja saw this building she had one thought in mind.  "Let's climb the clock tower!"  That's when my pride and ego kicked in.  246 steps?  Piece of cake.  I began the climb.


And I climbed...


... and I climbed.


And I climbed.


And I climbed.


After the heart attack, I climbed some more.


But I made it to the top!  Does this look like the face of a man that is happy with his accomplishment or happy he didn't lose his bladder half way up?


The view was truly amazing.




And when you're in Italy and feeling very proud of yourself, what else do you do but get pizza!!!



Folks, I can honestly tell you this was the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life.  Every bite made my mouth water, my eyelids flutter and little angels flew from my hair.  It was delicious.

Our second day in Florence started out like so many of our other days on holiday...  Sonja went shopping.  This woman has never met a clothes rack she didn't like.



Yes, she bought them both.

After the 200+ stair steps from the previous day, we thought we would take thing easy this day and headed to the park.  Giardino della Botanica superiore.  It was a fairly long trek to get to this park (2-3 miles) and when we finally got to the park, guess what awaited us.  You got it.  More stairs!



Once again, I must admit, the reward at the end of the climb was spectacular.








After all those steps and hills, there really is only one thing you can do.  Go eat!  Today we wanted to try something we'd never tried before...  truffles.  You know those thing that dogs and pigs dig up out of the ground?  Who wouldn't want to put that on their tongue.  


Top that off with cacio e pepe and pesto gnocchi and you've got a feast.


Have you noticed that big red dome in some of the city scape pictures?  It's called the Duomo and it's a huge church right in the middle of town.  On our third day in Florence we got up early to go take a look at it.  Sonja saw a beautiful cathedral.  All I saw was...  you guessed it, she was going to make me climb it!

And climb it...

and climb it...

and climb it...

and climb it...

and climb it...

and climb it...

and climb it...


Until my body reached the top and it said "no more!"  466 STEPS!!!


Of course Miss "I run every day" was just fine.


I took a video of the entire trip back down and it took us over 12 minutes to descend to the bottom.  45 minutes to get to the top!  But what do you do when you've burned up all those calories?


 


Sonja's Surprise

Day 4 she had no idea what was going to happen but when she found out...  I became the best husband in the world once again.









Once again, I hit it out of the park.   Next posting will be from Spain and the Solheim Cup.

See ya!

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