Firenze!

Piazza della Signoria, Florence

We made it safely to Italy! After I did a speedy 4:40 p.m. delivery at the birth center, we said goodbye to Pepper (who is hanging out with Elise while we're gone) and then headed to Oakland to stay with the Lees and meet their newest addition, Sophia (who was asleep but very adorable!). We left early on Saturday to make our flight to Toronto, and were in Rome by 11 am Sunday. One easy express train from the airport to the central train station and another fast Eurostar train later, we were in Florence!

It is a lovely city! When Laura and I visited Italy in 2003, we hit Rome and Venice but did not get a chance to see Florence/Tuscany. The countryside is beautiful, and the city gorgeous, too! We are staying in a very central hotel and spent our first afternoon exploring the city on foot. We visited many of the piazzas (squares) which pepper the city. We went inside the grand Duomo (or Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore), the world's fourth largest cathedral, and admired the ceiling frescos.









We climbed the 414 steps to the top of Giotto's Campanile (belltower) adjacent to the grand cathedral.











We crossed the Ponte Vecchio (bridge over the Arno which survived the WW2 bombing) and explored the Piazza Pitti and the Boboli Gardens which were enchanting. As you can tell, the weather is great (and is supposed to be sunny and around 70 for the rest of the week!).








Our day ended with delicious pasta and wine from Trattoria Zsa Zsa's near the Mercato Centrale, and gelato (which I'm pretty sure will be a daily thing).



Kelvin doesn't believe me that the water is drinkable here and accidentally bought a 6-pack of fizzy water.... but, otherwise he is very impressed with (stylish) Europe, the ease of getting around, and traveling in the first world! This is going to be a great trip!