Italy day 4: Florence

New record today! Up and out by 11am. Lisa had to do battle with the miniature washing machine in our apartment; it spilled water all over the floor and then after we fixed that it ran loudly all night long. In the morning, we decided it was time to be tourists; we got on a double-decker sight seeing bus and toured the city. We really should have done this on the first day, because we got a much better idea of the different areas and neighborhoods. We also got to see the modern, living city of Florence outside the historic city center, with cute apartments, tree-lined boulevards, and kids and dogs playing in the well-kept old parks all around the city.











After the bus tour, we went on our first and only art museum tour in the Museo Opera del Santa Maria Novella, which showcases sculpture that has been moved there from the inside and outside of the Duomo cathedral. Although much of it was dry, with uninspiring commentary ("there is debate whether this carving was originally present on the east or north section of the facade..."), there was an amazing statue done by Michelangelo of Jesus flanked by both Marys and a third, unidentified person with Michelangelo's own face. This was done in his 80's with the intention of being his own tombstone, but he became frustrated with the imperfections of the marble and attacked it with a hammer one night, breaking off pieces of it. It was later repaired and placed in the museum. We also appreciated the gigantic (much larger than life size) depiction of the execution of John the Baptist.











The highlight of our day came just before sunset - we took another sight seeing bus, but this one led up to the village of Fiesole, perched on the hills high above Florence. The view in the setting sun is sublime. We enjoyed it over a cup of pistacchio gelato and, of course, Prosecco.
On the way back from Fiesole, we took another loop around the city of Florence, getting a very nice view of David overlooking the city from Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset, the entrance to the south gate, and Ponte Vecchio bridge.





























Dinner tonight was one of our favorites - we found a family-run "hole in the wall" style restaurant, Trattoria di Giorgio, close to our apartment. Paper placemats, cheap prices, great food, and plenty of it (no pictures tonight because I told Lisa I was giving her a break from the camera for an hour). It's the kind of place where if you're a couple at a table for four, they sit another couple with you, and so we wound up having a very interesting talk with a couple who just took the train into Florence from Zurich, and is heading out tomorrow on a cycling tour of Italy by themselves. They have a tent and a few extra clothes, and they're pretty much making up their itinerary as they go. As for us, we leave tomorrow on the train to Civitavecchia near Rome for the cruise portion of our trip, so tomorrow will be a true test - our train leaves at 9:10am. And on that note, I will adjourn!


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