Day Two: Florence

It was hard to schedule which day to take a day trip into Florence and which to Siena. The main tourist sites in Florence were closed half one day, half the other. We just decided to go on Sunday and see what we could in Florence, then do Siena on Monday. Lots of pictures and videos coming up, so be warned.

Florence was only a short 45-minute drive on the crazy Tuscany curves. Speaking of the drive, here's a short little snipit of how it was driving through Tuscany. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL scenery, but the curves made it hard to actually look at the scenery when you were in the car. Especially for the driver, which was always Derek. (Sorry, D.)

Driving into the city of Florence was a little tense. Some of the roads were so narrow you just prayed that it was a one-way street. It wasn't. I swear I don't know how those Italians do it. But we made it there safely and parked in the Piazzale Michaelangelo, which was free and had the absolute best view of the city. The only downside (which I would learn later) was that it was soooooo much higher than the city itself. Walking down was easy. Walking back up later, not so easy. Very very hard. Derek filmed a video of that, too. Don't worry, you will see me in all my glory. But first, our tour of Florence.

The first David statue in Florence in the Piazalla Michaelangelo...

View of the city. Gorgeous...

The Ponte Vecchio, the most famous bridge in Florence lined with shops...

Another David, this one in the Palazzo Vecchio... This was actually where the real statue stood until the early 19th century when he was moved inside the Accademia Museum for protection.

There are three David statues in Florence. We saw two of the three. The real one inside the Accademia we didn't get to see because of the lines (we unfortunately did not follow Rick Steves' advice and reserve our tickets ahead of time - lesson learned). The same went with the Uffizi Gallery with all the classic art. We still saw plenty without touring the two museums though.

The courtyard of the Uffizi was just as interesting with statues of Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Galileo and Dante. They even had a few New Orleans-esque street performers posing as statues. Here I am with Cupid...

Next stop on our tour of Florence was a short walk to the Duomo, Florence's Gothic cathedral, whose claim to fame is its magnificent dome. The dome was actually the beginning of the Architectural Rennaisance and the model for other domes to follow throughout Italy. The Duomo was closed on Sunday, but the Capanile (270-foot bell tower adjacent to the church) was open for visitors, and Derek climed all the way up the 414 steps to the top to see the amazing views. I, on the other hand, sat and read our guidebook while he was up on top of the world.

The tower he climbed...

Little me in the orange being a dilligent student of Italian travel. Ha...




After Derek climbed back down to Earth we walked over to the Piazza della Repubblica, nicknamed the "bellybutton of Florence" because of its one column once served as the main intersection of the two main Roman roads. We decided this would be a great spot for a lunch break.

My sausage pizza. Now THIS was a good pizza... (Yes we were those tourists who took pictures of our food, but aren't you glad?)

Derek's linguine with seafood sauce...

One more photo opp before the looooooong trek back up the hill...

And now, for your viewing pleasure, my unhappiness about climbing the hill. Don't judge. It was tough, I promise...

But then it was all worth it once we got to the top and looked back out over this gorgeous city and witnessed some real life Italian meatheads (think "Jersey Shore") apparently preparing for the new season of that show to be filmed in their fair city. Their little Ford Fiesta was completely tricked out and blaring some Snoop Dogg. Totally made my day.

And thus ends our second day in Italy. The adventure continues...