Europe 2022: Florence

TIPS

Food tours on the first day are a great way to get the lay of the land.

To reflect, this was the fourth city during our European vacation this past summer. You can read about London Part 1 and Part 2, Venice, and Cinque Terre also!

The Arno River never takes a bad picture.

After leaving the beach of Monterosso, we were headed to Florence or Firenze. I absolutely love this city. It's just small enough to be completely walkable but large enough to settle in and see something new each day.

Ready to travel again. Fortunately, this train didn't leave until like 11, and it was a short ride.

Once we arrived, I had planned for us to take a food tour of the city. We met our guide in the Piazza del Signoria and on this day, Florence was celebrating its Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. So there was a lot happening.

The parade lasted forever. And these flags were tossed in unison to the beat of the bands playing as the men were moving. It was incredible.

Fountain of Neptune

This gothic Renaissance architecture always fascinates me. This was outside the Palazzo Vecchio.

The Palazzo Vecchio.

After the food tour, we collapsed into bed to rest up for our first full day in Florence.

TOTAL MILES: 7.5 miles

On day 2 in Florence, we started with a semi-private tour of the Accademia Gallery and the Duomo.

Here is the Statue of David and all of his glory. It's incredible to think about how Michelangelo chiseled this from one block of marble.

Ready for the day.

This final one is a good one to show you the scale of the stature.

Another part of our tour was the detail we learned about his unfinished statues that line the hall as you walk up to the statue. They are all depictions of slaves.

The Awakening Slave

The Atlas

Once we finished in the gallery, we walked to the Duomo. The colors on this building are beautiful. The white symbolizes faith, red is clarity, green is hope.

Classy lady.

The baptistry is actually across from the front entrance. Look at the heads protruding out.

After our tours, we headed back to the hotel to eat lunch and rest a bit. Then we headed out later to shop a bit and wander the the cobblestone streets.

TOTAL MILES: 11.2 miles

To begin our second full day in Florence, the kids and I wanted to climb to Piazza Michelangelo. Well, really I wanted to do it, and they came along.

I think God everyday for these two. And I love when they agree to indulge me when they would have preferred bed.

we had no concrete plans! We spent time on the Ponte Vecchio bridge looking at all of the jewels. We went back to the leather market, and we ate a lot. Oh, and as we walked, we made a game of finding the old wine windows!

The Ponte Vecchio gorgeousness.

That's the end of our second full day in Florence. Let me just say, the food in this city is the best. So be sure to read on Thursday to hear all about the truffle pasta and the cheese wheel and the gelato and truffle cream on a sandwich! I could go on forever.

TOTAL MILES: 9.8 miles

Goodnight to this beautiful city.