Last Day in Florence :'(

Part of the Boboli Gardens

View of Florence from Boboli Gardens

Exterior of Pitti Palace

Today was a great day, but sadly it was our last day here :( We walked across the “Ponte Vecchio” bridge, and we went to go see the Boboli Gardens, behind the Pitti Palace, which was the home of the Medici. The gardens were so amazingly beautiful, and very picturesque. There were beautiful pathways and, everything was so green. I was taking pictures like the whole time :) Italy is such a beautiful country, everywhere you look you see something absolutely stunning. We’re surrounded by art, and rich history. You wonder if this beautiful magnificent city inspired artists or if inspired artists made the city so beautiful, I’m guessing both :) Everything around seems to be simply extra-ordinary. I’m lucky to have got to spend a week here. I can’t really pick a favorite thing that we’ve done because everything has been great, but I think that if I had to pick I’d say that the art is the most amazing part of this city. Actually the art really makes this city what it is. I have loved every minute of my time here, and can’t wait to see what’s next in Vienna, Austria :D

<3Erin

463 Steps To The Top!!

Some of the steps to the top of the Duomo

Graffiti everywhere!

View of Florence from the top of the Duomo

Since we can't seem to get enough of climbing steps, we decided to climb to the top of the Duomo - 463 steps in all!! It was well worth the effort - the views of Florence were spectacular. You can also see the ceiling mural of the Last Judgment close up, and it is amazing. I can only imagine how great Michelangelo's Sistine chapel must be if this is so good. Our legs were so tired coming down! Walked to the Mercato Centrale to pick up some food for dinner. Bought some chicken, veggies etc. and sampled very expensive 45 yr old vinegar! Didn't too much after - other than hang around our area.

I'm publishing this blog early today - have to go cook dinner........

More of Firenze today

Bargello - courtyard

Galileo's middle finger (don't even ask why!)

Best Gelato in Italy!!

Decided to see a couple of museums today. It is definitely better to get an early start to beat the crowds. Headed off first to the Bargello - a building built in 1255, now a musuem with it’s highlight being sculptures by Michelangelo, Donatello etc. Definitely worth seeing for the building alone. We then went on over to the Museo Di Storia della Scienza which was being renovated so the admission was reduced. We did get to see what we wanted which was the Galileo Galilei exhibit - He was born in Pisa and was the court mathematician to the Medici family in Florence and is credited with inventing the telescope. The most bizarre thing we saw though was his preserved middle finger! The rest of him is buried in a church nearby.

Italy’s best gelateria (according to the books) was around there so we had to pay it a visit. Bar Vivoli Gelateria was off a tiny street and we have to say the gelato was actually better!! The Italians are very serious about their ice cream. Erin and I decided to explore some shops and of course Tom did not want any part of that! We ended up walking back to the outdoor market area and Erin found out that my bargaining skills are are very poor!

We had to head back to the Duomo as we had planned to meet George and Joyce who had arrived the previous day, at 5:30pm. We found them easily and walked over to a nearby place for dinner. They have been very busy with their group of students. They will be here for a month. We will cook dinner for them tommorrow at our apt. as we have been doing daily - pasta of course! When in Italy eat pasta........and gelato.

Pisa - Day Trip

Erin tried but couldn't straighten the Tower!

View from Tower

Decided to take a day trip to Pisa. Took a train from Florence's Santa Maria Novella Station to Pisa Centrale station. It was a one hour trip and we got to see some of the beautiful Tuscan countryside. We hopped on a city bus in Pisa to the Piazza dei Miracoli where the tower complex is located. We decided to only climb the tower (tickets to different buildings are all sold seperately) and we did so at 11:40 am, in the blazing heat!! It has been very hot here in Firenze - worse than Florida!! It was the neatest experience. You definitely feel the tilt and you feel like you are going down when you go up! The views from the top were amazing. We definitely got our excersise for the day. Had lunch in Pisa, siesta (Tom & Erin) on the train. It was a really good day trip.

Michelangelo's David

David

Mercato Centrale - lot's of food!

Duomo ceiling fresco's

We decided to beat the crowd and start the day early by visiting the Galleria dell’ Accademia with the original statue of David. It was il magnifico! The gallery also has several other sculptures by Michelangelo as well as other 15th & 16th century paintings. It was well worth the Euros!! We then shopped at the Mercato Centrale which is a large glass & steel building with all types of fresh meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, cheese, etc. Quite an amazing variety actually. The open air San Lorenzo Market is next to it and has things like leather goods etc. but probably not authentically Florentine. We also got into one section of the Duomo which is called the Opera Di Santa Maria Del Fiore - which is the church. The dome ceiling is stunning. Amazing frescos. We also saw the crypt which has excavations of the 4th century church that was demolished to make way for the current Duomo. We were hot and tired by then so opted not to pay 6 euros each to climb 414 steps to the top of the Campanile!! After all it was time for the Siesta!!

There's always tommorrow........

Day 2 Firenze

Ponte Vecchio Bridge over the Arno River

Started off the day fairly early - went to the grocery store nearby and got items for breakfast etc. Had cappuccino at the Gelateria down the street for only 1 Euro - score!!!
It was great too. That man will see a lot more of us. We decided to take our own walking “tour” and get an idea of the area and not go in any museums yet. The area is actually quite crowded with tourists and the lines are long!! We walked to the Arno river and across the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Absolutely beautiful!! As Erin says, if you just point the camera randomly and shoot you will get a beautiful picture! It is actually quite overwhelming - there is so much to see. We walked by a lot of the landmarks and will decide later what we want to see most of. We will definitely go to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see the original statue of David by Michelangelo.

We found another good restaurant for lunch ,Trattoria Baldovino, - the food here has been so good - much better than Italian food in the states! We walked back to the apt. after lunch - more of a stroll with lots of distractions along the way. Amazing picturesque side streets, neat shops, street vendors, gelaterias.......

I’m glad we have the internet store close by. I can post a few pictures daily but we will have so many pictures.....there is so much to see.

Perseus With Head of Medusa

We Made It To Firenze

We reached Florence around noon on 6/23. Erin & I had a stop in Paris (we probably walked three miles to reach the connecting flight - airport to avoid if possible!). Tom did better coming through Amsterdam. But he couldn’t beat the fact that we had the current world kickboxing champion on our flight along with another three time world champion! (Trust me, I know nothing about kickboxing) We took a taxi to the apartment, met our landlady and settled in. The apartment is quaint - reminds Tom of his grandmothers apartment - and on the 4th floor. It has very cool views. Thank goodness there is a elevator although tiny! Barely fits us three in it! It is extremely hot here as well at present. We were so tired and sleep deprived but did walk around and found a good restaurant - Bucca Niccoloni - to eat. Also found an Internet place and e-mailed Drew at camp. T & E had Gelato - basically there are Gelato stores everywhere! Florence is just fabulous! Magnificent buildings everywhere with an amazing mix of old and new.

Hendersonville - "Happy Camp Capital!

Erin & Drew, downtown Hendersonville

Left Atlanta after getting Erin her Burger King Breakfast she was craving! Reached Hendersonville, NC at around noon. We did eat lunch at the Cypress Cellar and the food was still authentically Cajun. The menu states that they even get the bread for their Po-Boys from Gambinos Bakery in New Orleans! We walked around downtown and opted not to drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, as a thunderstorm rolled in. We basically did not do much else - went to the hotel (Hampton Inn) and rested. The area is full of campers and their families as many camps are probably starting tomorrow. Drew continues to be very excited. The next blog I post should hopefully be from Florence!!

Atlanta

We reached Atlanta after about a nine hour drive with a couple of stops. The traffic was very heavy as well. It was good to reach our hotel which is actually in Tucker, GA - right off highway 285 on the outskirts of the city. Nice reasonable Marriot Courtyard in a neat area. Best of all, the Mellow Mushroom is right next door - a very good, very sixties pizza place - yeah!!

Hey it's Erin now!! We've been in the car almost all day and I think it's safe to say we've had enough of each other.. We're all excited to see Hendersonville tomorrow. It's such a nice little town with cute stores and awesome places to eat. Drew is so excited to go to camp and see which of his friends have returned and what cabin he gets to be in! This vacation is going to be so much fun!

Getting ready for our big trip!

Starting to get organized for our trip - seems like there are a million things to think about. We leave Friday am for Atlanta - (Tom after a 12pm- 12am shift as luck would have it!) and then head on to Hendersonville, North Carolina the next day. Hopefully we will be able to relax and enjoy the quaint downtown and eat lunch at the Cypress Cellar - which amazingly had the best Cajun food outside of New Orleans, (at least in 2007!) and drive along the glorious Blue Ridge Parkway, if the weather is good! That mountain weather can change in an instant!! After we drop Drew off at camp on Sunday, Tom, Erin & I will head back to Atlanta and fly out to Florence! Hopefully we will be able to keep this blog going, but uploading pictures may be an issue depending on what computers we have access to. We shall see.......

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway 2006