Florence via the Ride Home

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Figuring that we had about a 10-12 hour drive home, we decided to make our stop in Florence a fairly quick one. I really wanted to see the Piazza della Signoria with anything else being icing on the cake. After a week of seeing new places, the boys were beside themselves with why I still wanted to stop in this city!

Somehow we ended up on this bridge a few too many times. We kept
ending up on one-way streets that would lead us back out of the city.
Our GPS was not caught up with the most recent construction! So we
finally turned the GPS off and looked for a parking spot.

Josiah, always the climber

Florence had more bikes than we saw in the other Italian
cities. And very narrow streets. We were fortunate that
we found a parking garage that didn't cost an arm and a
leg. Plus, they gave us a map of the city!

This is just after entering the main square of Piazza della

Repubblica, one of the piazzas we walked through on our way

to Piazza della Signoria. Though impressive to see, the boys

were a bit disappointed that I wanted to see this square.

Little did they know, we weren't done walking yet!

Lots of the buildings were a yellow brick or stone - very
different from the other cities we had visited since it was
more monotone than the others.

Piazza della Signoria is filled with many famous statues.
The one above is the Fountain of Neptune. (1575)
The boys were very unimpressed as all of them were
naked! And they were horrified when their dad asked them
to stand by one for a photo. They were okay with standing
by the bronze Cosimo I statue though as he was fully clothed.

I love how church spires can be seen in any given
picture. I am sure I didn't even notice this one when
taking the picture.

We are standing in the Loggia die Lanzi in this photo and looking down
over the stairs to the street musician. This is one thing I will really miss
about Europe - some of these street musicians are amazing.

This street musician was unbelievable! And everyone thought so as his
guitar case had loads of cash in it. Generally, people drop in 50 cents or
a Euro or two. This guy had bills. Lots of 'em. We stood listening long
enough that we wondered if we needed to drop in bills as well! He was set
up just beside the Loggia die Lanzi, which is an open-air building consisting
of three bays with large arches. Somehow I was so taken with the music that
I forgot to take a photo of the arches and all of the statues under them! 

This David, one of Michaelangelo's famous sculptures,
is a replica of the original which is now in a museum in
Florence. Hercules and Cacus are in the foreground.

Cosimo I became head of the Florentine Republic in 1537.
He was 17 years old at the time. In 1569, he was named the
Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Looking back at the Fountain of Neptune with the
Loggia die Lanzi in the background.

Here is another photo of Cosimo I with the town
hall, Palazzo Vecchio or "Old Palace," behind it.
Notice the bird sitting on his head!

Florence had so very many motorcycles. Rome had
smart cars coming out its ears - at one point, we counted
over a dozen smart cars in less than one block. Well,
Florence seemed to us to be home to the motorcycles!

As we left the Piazza della Signoria, we decided we needed
one last ice-cream stop. This place was on on our way back
to the car so we stopped in for a treat. 

That treat ended up being breakfast, lunch and dinner! Every other place
that we got ice-cream, the prices were very reasonable. Generally, each cone
was about 2.50 Euros. I guess this place was the Prada of Florence as our
total came to 40 Euros! What? Is it too late to return it? That came out to
almost 7 Euros a person! It was good but not Prada good!

As we headed north, we drove for hours through wine
country. Where isn't there wine country in Italy though?
We also enjoyed spotting castles dotting the hillsides
as we drove. It was a beautiful drive!

The boys conked out...some more than others! Josiah was patiently waiting
for Noah to wake up as he didn't really have a place to put his arms...except,
of course, around his brother!

A funny story from our trip home....our time in Tuscany was filled with sunshine and short sleeves. Such a refreshing change to the long, dark winter. We were all in good spirits from such a wonderful week. The farther north we drove, the nastier the weather became. Shortly after crossing into Germany we stopped for a refill and bathroom break. As we drove into the station, the snow was blowing and the wind was whipping. Our coats that we hadn't used in almost a week were packed away so we just made a dash for the restrooms. Tracy figured this was a great time to grab some coffee and headed to the counter. Now keep in mind that our experiences with Germans have been so very nice. We have rarely met the stereotypical German. And yet, stereotypes come from somewhere. This gas station stop was one of those places! Tracy ordered a cup of coffee with an extra shot so as to help him stay alert. Picture a large-ish German Frau that looked like she just wrestled an ox....scowling, she harshly said, "We can't do that." So Tracy explained again what he wanted. "What do you want? Just tell me what you want." This continued for a bit with some onlookers sizing up the situation as well so Tracy finally just said, "I want a cup of coffee. That's it." Then he turned to me and whispered in English, "Welcome home." Again, we have't met many like her, but it was pretty funny that our first experience upon reentering the country was a stereotypical German Frau.