Thursday, October 29
First stop, Giotto’s Bell Tower at the Piazza del Duomo. The bell tower is one of the four main monuments on the Piazza along with the Cathedral, Dome and Babtistry. We climbed the 414 steps to reach the top. As soon as we stepped foot outside it was raining. Luckily we brought umbrellas and most people were scared away by the rain. After the 414 steps we deserved the view and the rain was not going to stop us. The views of Florence were amazing, after some photos we started back down and once outside the tower we noticed the line up for entering the bell tower, we totally lucked out with our timing.
View from Giotto’s Bell Tower in Florence, Italy.
View of the city of Florence and Duomo from the stairwell of the Bell Tower.
Promised the kids some gelato as a treat after the climb so we found a great little spot where the kids ate their gelato and Justin and I had a cappuccino. A little energy for the short walk to the Leonardo DaVinci Museum. The museum was totally hands on and had so many of the inventions that DaVinci is famous for along with replicas of some of his paintings and notes from his original work. We talked to the kids about the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. And spent so much time walking around the museum touching and turning cranks and talking about how his inventions from the 15th and 16th centuries have an affect on things today.
Inside the Leonardo DaVinci Museum in Florence, Italy.
Shelby reading about Automation.
Literature and models of some of his inventions.
Afterwards we stopped next to the museum at this great little bistro/cafe for lunch. The kids had a pasta dish and the owner recommended Justin and I share this antipasto/meat platter. I asked for a cappuccino and he said “no, no that is for after” I was like “ok, then how about a red wine?”, he says “yes, good, good”. After he walks away Justin tells me that he read online something about not ordering coffee with your food, technically a no, no, too bad he didn’t share that info with me earlier. Another tidbit of info he told me about after I told him about the store owner in Vernazza yelling at me from inside the store as I was touching a pear at the front of his shop “no, no touch!”, “sheesh!” I thought, what the heck. Well apparently you don’t touch the produce at all, you don’t handle it in markets, you ask for what you want and they bag it for you with no say in the selection process.
Lunch in Florence.
After lunch the boys take a break and Shelby and I continue to walk around and check out stores. We do a little shopping and find streets and corners we hadn’t yet come across. I’m sure you could come back any number of times and not come across the same things.
One place we did stumble by was the Bartolucci store. It is where Francesco Bartolucci become fame famous for his wood carved Pinocchio marionettes. The novel The Adventures of Pinocchio was written in Florence Italy by Carlo Collodi. It was started in 1881 and completed in 1883. Funny how until that moment I assumed it was a Disney original. So many beautifully carved pieces in the store. I especially liked the familiar looking Pinocchio Marionette at the front.
A familiar looking Pinocchio marionette.
After a quick break back at the apartment we head back out to the streets to find some dinner. We shared some Tiramisu after dinner and head back for a good sleep so we’re all energized for our bike ride through the streets of Florence tomorrow.
