FIRENZE

Florence was nothing less than stunning. The first thing I was struck by was the serenity of this city. Most of the time the only noise I could hear were my footsteps. This sounds strange, but it made me realize how noisy Rome is. Everything was calmer here. The people were very friendly and we were valued as customers at restaurants. The food was tastier and reasonable, the restaurants quainter, the portions bigger. The only disappointing thing about Florence was the bread. But WHO cares? We couldn't find any other flaws whatsoever. The restaurant owners even lured us with bottles of free wine and cheese platters! IT'S ALL TRUE. We drank up.

River Arno, our first glimpse of Florence. We took the train in early Saturday morning and left Sunday night. 

Perhaps my favorite part of Florence was the relationship between country and city, as shown above. The mountains seemed to go on forever, and they were dotted with buildings as they rose. Florence is part of the Italian region of Tuscany. It was awesome to see the difference between the city and countryside of Tuscany. Green to red. We were able to walk back and forth between the two, which was so refreshing. The sun was shining, the temperature mild, and we just explored until we found a charming little restaurant. I think it used to be a wine cellar...or possibly a crypt... I had pasta l'arrabbiata, one of my favorites. 

Gorgeous view, but not even the best yet.

A sketch of Il Duomo

The yard of the Medici's. We walked through garden after garden. They even had an Egyptian Obelisk next to their outdoor stone tub! It's unbelievable to see how much these people had, and obviously they wouldn't put in the work to walk up the hill to enjoy it because, A) They would get a tan, god forbid, and B) They would get skinny. They also owned the land around these gardens, which was probably vineyards (below).  I also stole a lemon and a mini clementine out of a greenhouse. 

A view from a part of the Medici Palace

Giotto's Campanile was over 400 steps to the top, but that didn't stop us. And in fact I rather enjoyed hearing the painful sighs of weaklings.

View from the top. You could see for miles and miles. I didn't realize how big the city was until I stood up there. It was really breathtaking. We were going to climb Il Duomo (pictured), but it is closed on Sundays. I am glad we climbed this tower instead. The bells also started ringing while we were descending. I've never heard anything like it.