Day 15 – Leaving Venice… now to Florence!

Truth be known, this teacher could’ve skipped Venice and spent the whole time in Florence (Editor's note - we still don't understand this - counseling may be necessary).  The Renaissance art, the history of the Medici, the “Bully of Florence” that took over everything before the Renaissance… not to mention the beautiful countryside, all make it one of my absolute favorites.   However, selfishly, a large part of me this trip enjoys the organized layout of the city, the paved streets (at least some of them… the rest are still the cuboidal cobblestone), the “almost 20^th century indoor plumbing – LOL!  Okay, I admit it… I’m an American softie that likes the comparative luxuries of my own home.

Walking down the streets of Florence with your luggage is a bit more awkward than doing it in Venice, but not much.  This time, we’re staying in a hostel… which for those who’ve never seen one. It’s kind of like a dorm for students.  Relatively inexpensive rooms… few, if any amenities… but it should be clean & safe.

THIS hostel is unlike any I’ve seen, though.  They have 700 beds in two buildings, a sauna, indoor pool, cafeteria style dining area… and LAUNDRY!!  I think I started to drool when I walked in and saw the word “Maytag” on the machines.  These are large, American-made, coin-operated machines!  I’m ECSTATIC!  If I’d known about these, I wouldn’t’ve worked so hard in Rome dealing with that hideous monstrosity! 

We can’t check in yet, so we put our luggage into storage and all head down to the cafeteria to see what they’re serving for breakfast (it’s still only 9:30am).  Boo Boo discovers the world of “cappuccino” and the rest of us find croissants & OJ to be more appealing.  Afterward, the Magic Homeschool Bus (plus grandparents) heads out to see the sights.

 

 We find the Santa Maria Novella, in addition to the famous Duomo with Brunelleshi’s Dome.  You can’t see the spina pesce pattern from the outside (b/c of the outer brick covering), nor from the inside (because of the frescoes), but the kids, having seen a movie on it, are still awed by seeing it for real.  I can’t remember that we’ve ever ventured into the Duomo before… but it’s lovely. 

 

Ghiberti’s doors on the baptistery are essentially covered up (as is the rest of the baptistery), but we catch a few snapshots of those… and keep walking.  We’re starting to feel like that fish in Finding Nemo… just keep walking, just keep walking – LOL!

 

 

 

A couple of other things grab our attention about Florence… the trash cans… and the buses.  The cans have the recepticals below ground… with the doors for them above ground. With all the trash issues in the other Italian cities that we've visited (and we haven't gotten to Naples yet!)... this seens to be a brilliant alternative.  The buses are nearly all “short buses”.  They seat no more than 10 people, with hanging straps for another 7-10.  It’s a tight squeeze sometimes, especially when there are no shocks on the bus.  I’m not sure a longer wheel base would help though, b/c the times we venture onto actual asphalt the bouncing completely disappears.  They really should go ahead and pave the streets – LOL!

The street artists are still here.  Though we didn’t catch anybody doing Da Vinici’s Last Supper, we found a couple that were interesting.  Yes, they’re right in the middle of what is a 2 lane road, but they have areas in the street outlined for them… so they don’t get run over.

A visit to the “Pig Market” and our day’s adventure is nearly over.  MIL finds a new leather backpack for a great price… the kids rub the boar’s snout (we have no real idea why this is a thing, but it is) and then we start our journey back.  Our walk to find another bus stop takes us through the Piazza della Signora which is most famous for being the entryway to the Accademie… the Uffizi… and the Loggia… and leads to the Ponte Vecchio, among other things.

 

 

The nice thing about heading to Florence is that the Florentines have taken kindly to tourists and put a “fake David” out in the Piazza (no point in before/after photos here... he appears unchanged - and nobody has come to the poor Sabine Woman's aid).  Don’t get me wrong, the Accademie is still worth seeing, but if the only thing you’ll recognize is Michaelangelo’s David, save your money and take a picture with the fake one.  The real one has a few cracks the fake doesn’t have… but most can’t tell the difference.  The Uffizi is the Renaissance art… we’ll get that tomorrow… along with the Ponte Vecchio.

 

For now, we make a winding way back to the apartment, check in, start a load of laundry… the girls go swimming with BIL/DN… and we all decide to hit the bed early.