First morning in Florence. Everyone is sound asleep and I am enjoying sitting at this gorgeous desk writing this blog.
Here is the view out the window...
And here is the view of the living room...
And the books I am hoping to make it through today :)
I headed out for a run to get the lay of the land.
The cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Plans were designed in 1296 by Arnolfo di Cambio, but he died before the building was finished. The project was taken over in 1334 by Giotto do Bondone who designed the campanile with its "distinctive bands of marble in pink, green and white". The facade of the cathedral was not designed until 1871 and completed in 1887. The dome or cupola, was built by Filippo Brunelleschi and finished in 1463 is one of the world's largest brick-built domes. We watched a great video on this amazing feat, as the dome was built without the use of scaffolding.
The kids and Corey slept until I woke them up at 11! Lily and I headed out for a quick run back to the Duomo and to buy croissants. We are determined to assess the best croissants (and gelato) in Florence. And hopefully walk enough that we don't put on 20 pounds!
At 7 AM, the piazza around the Duomo was empty. A few hours later and it was swarming with people.
Don Nino - croissant shop #1 :)
Espresso machiato...
We stopped to admire one of the many artists in the piazza.
Our apartment is in a perfect location. The Palazzo Vecchio (The Old Palace) designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1299, is the landmark for our street and is 2 minute walk from our door.
Horse parade on our way home. The first 50 horses were really interesting... Lily took about 10 too many photos of the horse poop. Not included in the blog for obvious reasons.
Waking up this sweet boy.
Let the croissant competition begin. Croissants were assessed on flakiness, flavor, and type. Really. They stylizing on the plate was by the kid chefs.
Crema
White Chocolate
Chocolate
Berry
Apricot
A grumpy judge that did not like how long it was taking the coffee to percolate.
We got ready and headed to the Boboli Gardens - stopping at a few shops along the way and ultimately delicious paninins and 3 Euro glasses of wine. I love you Italy.
Caden enjoying the salamis
5 paninis, two glasses of wine, 3 orange fantas, 2 pairs of sunglasses, three leather bracelets, three t-shirts and 2 leather jackets later, we made it to the Boboli Gardens.
We spent some time lounging in the shade drawing Florence...
A puppet show with marionettes
15,000 steps later, nearly home...
We stayed in for dinner eating crusty bread with sardines and salad. Life is good :)
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