We got up fairly early on the morning after our arrival into Siena, as we had to be at the apartment in Florence by two. We had some time to wander about a bit, and made it to the duomo, but unfortunately it was closed until after we had to leave, so we only got to see the outside. Although I wasn't aware of this until I pulled out the guide book, the duomo was originally planned to be much larger - maybe twice again as large as it is today. The open arches in the picture yet to be posted show where the end of the duomo was going to be. The outside of the duomo was still pretty cool, although it would have been nice to go in.
After our brief tour of Siena, we hopped another train and went to Florence. I'm taking the liberty of condensing the tale of Florence into one post - Florence was definitely the low point of our trip, and if I had to do it all over again, I would have arranged things a bit differently.
We arrived in Florence and headed to the apartment where we more or less crashed for the rest of the day. I did go out for groceries, and to buy tickets for the Accademia and the Uffizi, but that was about the extent of our outings for that day.
The next day started with us heading to the Accademia. The claim to fame of the Accademia is that it holds Michelangelo's David. To be honest, I've seen pictures of David before, and I was prepared to be unimpressed. I mean, yes, it's an impressive sculpture, but I didn't think I'd really get anything else out of it. I was surprised. David is impressive, not least because he is some 16 feet tall. To boot, he is exquisitely sculpted. The Accademia also contains Michelangelo's "Prisoners", which are also fascinating. The kids, at this point, wanted to know why every statue had to be naked. However, they both liked David, even if they weren't as enamoured as Michelle and I. The Accademia is quite small, and we did a walkthrough after seeing David, but we were still out in a little over an hour.
After the Accademia, the weather was being reasonably accomodating, so we got train tickets to Pisa, and headed off to see the amazing leaning Tower of Pisa. The Tower of Pisa is in a field together with a duomo and a baptistery. The Campo dei Miracoli, or Field of Miracles, they call it. However, like everything in the Florence area, every single one of them had their own entrance charge - which didn't exclude kids. Kids can't climb the Tower of Pisa anyway, unless they are over 8. So, we noodled around in the field for a while, took the obligatory pictures, rushed by the many street vendors, and then made our way back to the station for the trip back to Florence. By the time we arrived, it was roughly dinner time, so we found a restaurant, where we ordered the kids noodles with butter, and of course, more pasta for Michelle and I - although I think I may have tried the gnocchi.
The next morning, we rose and headed to the Uffizi. The Uffizi is well deserving of its reputation, and the kids actually made it through about two hours before we headed out. I've found that if you actually stop and discuss the paintings and/or sculptures with them, they can and do appreciate what is there on the walls, although perhaps not in the same sense as you or I. We came out and crossed the Ponte Vecchio and found a cheap little eatery on the south side of the river (you don't know what an accomplishment that is in Florence!) where we stopped and grabbed lunch. Afterwards, we waited for the rain to stop before heading out to the Boboli Gardens. We made it down to the entrance, only to find that it was going to cost 40 euros for us to enter - 10 euros apiece, and yes, the children were also expected to pay full price. Oh - and by the way, the kids also had to pay full price to enter both the Accademia, and the Uffizi. Florence is NOT a kid-friendly place, nor is it particularly wallet-friendly either - I thought Rome was actually cheaper in every aspect other than the accomodations... but we stayed in a nicer area in Rome. So, skipping the Gardens, I looked at the map and found another park a little way down from us. We walked down that way, only to find it closed, and as soon as we found a park, Maggie decided she had to use the toilet. We ended up walking all the way outside the old city gates looking for a toilet, until we finally found a little gelateria, where we stopped. After getting our daily gelato fix, we headed back and found another little park, where we let the kids play for a bit before heading back to the apartment for our last night in Florence.
We ate our dinner in the apartment that night, and afterwards, I had hopes of trying to go to the Bar Vivoli Gelateria. According to the guidebook, it is home to arguably the world's best gelato. So, as Dalton and Michelle were both tired, in the end, only Maggie and I ended up going. The Bar Vivoli was probably about a fifteen - twenty minute walk from the apartment, and Maggie was a real trooper to go out with me. So we wended our ways through the streets and finally made it to the Bar Vivoli. We were about to decide on what to get, when I felt around for my wallet and realised it was gone. I still don't know what happened to it. I don't think I was pick-pocketed, as (1) it was in the lower side pocket of my cargo pants, and I think I would notice anyone stooping down to stick their hands even remotely close to that pocket, (2) we didn't walk through any crowded areas - so I would have noticed someone getting close enough to touch me, (3) I was never bumped, hit, etc., or anything that would distract me enough to miss a hand slipping in my pocket, and (4) a lot of the time, I ended up carrying Maggie, who would have also seen anyone coming up behind. I've decided I either dropped it, or accidentally threw it away when I was taking the trash out (I had a lot of stuff in my hands). At any rate, after our long walk, we ended up getting no gelato, and walked back to the apartment.
We searched the apartment and all our stuff for the wallet - but it was gone. Florence, home of the Medici's, Borghese's, and their secrets, now holds one secret more: where my wallet went.
So, while I normally tend to avoid negative comments on here, I will advise anyone looking at taking a trip to Florence to think twice: it has great museums, and a nice duomo (which we failed to enter), but it really feels touristy (and I've lived for a year in London, and been to Paris and Rome - and none of them feel touristy in the way that Florence does), it is expensive, and it is not particularly pretty other than the main strip. That's all I'll say. Pictures to come next.
Next: More positivity, and Venice!!
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