Firenze, Italy

Florence was great! There was so much to see, and considering the kids, we saw quite a bit. At least we saw everything on our list! It rained a lot the first few days, but Friday was really nice. It was not as cold as Germany so that was nice. To get there we had to drive an hour to the airport, wait 2 hours at the airport, fly for about 1 hour to Italy, take an hour bus to Bologna(this is where Brian fell and hurt his ankle/foot,) then hop on an hour train to Firenze (Florence), and finally get on a bus to go to our guest house. Unfortunately, we were guessing where to get off the bus and got off too early. So then we had to walk with our bags and push the girls in the stroller up hill. We ended up stopping to see our dear friend, Bernardo, who is a Benedictine monk at San Miniato, and by chance caught a Mass as well. So it was a LONG travel day which ended in some much needed refreshment and fellowship.

We stayed in a guest house run by nuns where our friend set us up. They just loved the girls and the girls loved them as well! The nuns spoke both German and Italian so we spoke to them mostly in German since we don’t know much Italian (even though I found it is so close to Spanish that I am able to catch a lot more than I thought). Our experience there was fantastic-the rooms were nice, the breakfast was satisfying, and the girls enjoyed the nuns tickling them and bringing them cakes and candy.

The first morning we headed out to see Santa Croce which is a very big, old, and beautiful church. It had many famous tombs, like Michelangelo’s and Galileo’s. We spent the morning there and headed to a place to eat that was recommended to us in our travel guide. It was pretty good, but over all I was a tiny bit disappointed with the food selection. Maybe my expectations were too high. However, I am a pregnant woman who has random cravings and aversions. In fact, I haven’t wanted to eat meat much at all, and that is what they seem to love in that region. So, then we headed to the Uffizi, a huge museum with over 40 rooms of artwork. The girls were pooped, so Hannah rode in the front of the stroller where she could lay back and sleep and I put Genna in the sling. Hannah was asleep before we got into the first room, and Genna was asleep by room 10. Neither woke up until we were leaving. I was hurting after that, carrying 25 extra pounds around for over 2 hours plus the ever-growing babe inside me. At least Brian and I were able to peacefully wander about and look at the amazing Renaissance art! We then got some gelato which was very good. Then we headed to San Miniato again to visit our friend. He spoiled the girls with candy and chocolate and we had another lovely visit. One complaint I have about Italy is that they do not open restaurants until 7 or 7:30pm for dinner. This is only a problem if you have small kids that are used to going to bed at that time. So we went for dinner and did not get back until late.

The next morning we left and went straight to San Miniato for a private tour of the church and the bell tower which Bernardo so lovingly gave us. At lunch time we headed to Oltarno for lunch and window shopping. We got a couple of blood oranges and pears at a fruit stand too and they were delicious! We had some more gelato after lunch. (That is Brian’s favorite thing, so we had it everyday.) Next we were off to a perfume shop called Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella (a former Dominican monastery from 1221 and converted to the perfume shop in 1612) that Brian had been to last time he was in Florence. We got each other valentine gifts there since originally the trip was planned to include Valentine’s Day, but it had to be moved. Then we went to Santa Maria Novella, another beautiful church. It was adorned by 14^th century frescoes and various famous paintings and a few more tombs. Hannah had an accident since there are no bathrooms in the whole church. The closest one was across the street, so that was a bit of a disaster. We did more window shopping and stopped in to taste wines (Brian, not me obviously). I accidentally tasted chicken livers and anchovies in a paté on crostini. We also tasted many kinds of Pecorino cheeses which are common in the area, and we all liked them. The woman at the wine shop recommended some restaurants for dinner that night, but none of them were opening for another hour or more. So we went back across the Arno river and finally found a place to eat near our guest house. It was very good, but fairly expensive. The girls, by the way, lived on spaghetti, bread and cheese pretty much the whole week and were content.

The third morning we headed straight for the Duomo. A picture of us in front is to the right (Don't worry Genna is buckled in securely!) The doors of the Baptistry were amazing as was Brunelleschi’s dome. The girls enjoyed getting out of the stroller inside all of these churches and museums. Unless it was naptime, that was their time to stretch. They were very good about staying with us and behaving. I will forever remember having the two of them going through my legs over and over again the whole time I was looking at the dome. We saw very few children while in Italy and so we certainly did not blend into the crowds. Then we went to another restaurant that I found in the travel guide and it was by far the best one. The Acedemia Risterante was reasonable and the food was great. I had their famous Michelangelo Salad which had pears, Pecorino, pine nuts and honey on a bed of lettuce. The girls ate pizza, and Brian loved his Pasta with mussels in it. We had some bruschetta also and it was all very filling. The only problem we had there had nothing to do with the restaurant. While I was taking off Genna’s coat I dislocated her elbow again. Brian had to take her to the bathroom to put it back in place. I am sure you’re thinking I must have been ripping that coat off, but I was just doing it a different way for lack of space and I honestly have no idea how it happened again. After it was back in place she was fine and we had a nice lunch. Then, of course, we headed around the corner to the Academia to see the original statue of the David. It was more amazing than I could have imagined. And since I did not get to see my favorite statue, Rodin’s The Kiss, while we were in England because it had been moved to another museum, this more than made up for it. To think he was about my age when he did this statue amazes me further. Michelangelo’s Quattro Pigioni (Four Prisoners) was quite wonderful too. There were other paintings and a plaster model museum as well, but unfortunately they were overshadowed by the famous statues. Then we headed to Mass at San Miniato again and afterwards met with Bernardo. He taught the girls to play a Buddhist bell I had never seen before which Genna, my musical angel, loved. He definitely won the hearts of our girls who talked about him for many days after we left. He was too nice to us, giving us all kinds of treats and souvenirs to take home with us. He even gave us a ride to the train station the next morning. For dinner Brian got food and brought it to our room so the absolutely exhausted mommy could pack and rest her feet.

The next morning we began the reverse of our travels to Firenze and ended up back at home around 4:30pm.

A view of Firenze from San Miniato