So this morning we actually overslept a little...woops! Our internal clocks are way off... It wasn't a big deal, we just missed the leisurely breakfast we wanted on the terrace overlooking the Duomo. It'll still be there tomorrow though.
Scott was off to the conference and I had reserved a tour with The Original and Best Walking Tours company online on the basis of some reviews I read on TripAdvisor. So.Worth.It. It was amazing. Esp after aimlessly wandering around yesterday for awhile, I can honestly say I would never have picked up like 1/10 of what I learned on this tour. Even if I will probably only remember like one third. I suck at fractions anyway. I saw so much, and this post will eventually have some kick butt pictures.
Piazza Della Reppublica
Piazza Della ReppublicaWe went inside the Duomo, which was once the largest church in the world, and is now the 4th largest church. It's cool, I will have seen 3 of the biggest 4 churches in the world after this trip! St Peter's in Rome, (the second is a catholic church just built on the Ivory Coast), St Paul's in London and then the Duomo. It's so gorgeous.
The tour also took me to the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in the city. It was built in 1300 something... and it's the only bridge that wasn't bombed during WWII. It has all these little houses on it, very different looking. And lots of expensive jewelry. And people ...everywhere. :)
We also saw the Palazzo Vecchio, which means Old Palace but now has evolved to mean City Hall in Italian vernacular. There's lots of naked dude statues all over the place. There's a copy of The David statue among others. It's quite grandiose, and of course, beautiful and breathtaking.
One of my favorite parts of the tour and this whole day was just wandering through the *adorable* city streets and side streets. It's a gorgeous place.
After the tour concluded, I felt very acclimated to the city and inspired to go for a run in Florence. There's a lookout point I've read about and got to see from the Ponte Vecchio called Piazalle Michelangelo. It's across the river and up a pretty sizable hill, but affords a fabulous view of the city. I took a few unintentional detours due to poorly marked streets, but got there in the end! It was fabulous, and a really fun and different way to see the city.
I tried to finish it up with a Gatorade like I always do at home, and the place I visited close to the hotel and the Duomo wanted to charge me 3 euro! That's like $5! Um, no. Lesson learned - things are wicked expensive by big tourist attractions. I picked up a Gatorade (which had a flavor NOTHING like the US version! LOL!) for €1.60.
I met up with Scott after the conference ended. It's only about a 10 min walk from the hotel along the Via Faenza. We think it's Italian for "Ripped Up" bc the street is all demolished. Hey, it's funny to us and helps us remember where we are :) We also got to meet up with Amy Ogan, a fellow 1999 Etown grad!
Later that night, we had a reception with the conference which I got to go to as well. Free food, wine and gelato! Not too shabby. Oh, and the one thing I might love even more than chianti is gelato. MMMmmmmm!
The tour also took me to the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in the city. It was built in 1300 something... and it's the only bridge that wasn't bombed during WWII. It has all these little houses on it, very different looking. And lots of expensive jewelry. And people ...everywhere. :)
We also saw the Palazzo Vecchio, which means Old Palace but now has evolved to mean City Hall in Italian vernacular. There's lots of naked dude statues all over the place. There's a copy of The David statue among others. It's quite grandiose, and of course, beautiful and breathtaking.
One of my favorite parts of the tour and this whole day was just wandering through the *adorable* city streets and side streets. It's a gorgeous place.
After the tour concluded, I felt very acclimated to the city and inspired to go for a run in Florence. There's a lookout point I've read about and got to see from the Ponte Vecchio called Piazalle Michelangelo. It's across the river and up a pretty sizable hill, but affords a fabulous view of the city. I took a few unintentional detours due to poorly marked streets, but got there in the end! It was fabulous, and a really fun and different way to see the city.
I tried to finish it up with a Gatorade like I always do at home, and the place I visited close to the hotel and the Duomo wanted to charge me 3 euro! That's like $5! Um, no. Lesson learned - things are wicked expensive by big tourist attractions. I picked up a Gatorade (which had a flavor NOTHING like the US version! LOL!) for €1.60.
I met up with Scott after the conference ended. It's only about a 10 min walk from the hotel along the Via Faenza. We think it's Italian for "Ripped Up" bc the street is all demolished. Hey, it's funny to us and helps us remember where we are :) We also got to meet up with Amy Ogan, a fellow 1999 Etown grad!
Later that night, we had a reception with the conference which I got to go to as well. Free food, wine and gelato! Not too shabby. Oh, and the one thing I might love even more than chianti is gelato. MMMmmmmm!
Posts
2 comments:
Sounds like another amazing day of what's going to turn out to be a trip-of-a-lifetime! I can't wait to see the pictures that match your descriptions.
Sounds like a blast! Stay safe!
Post a Comment