Firenze (Florence)

This past weekend we took our first "big" trip to Florence, a place I've always wanted to visit and never made it to on my previous European vacation. It's a short 4-4 1/2 hour drive from Naples (with a stop at the most unbelievable "truck stops": clean, delicious food, cafe, even real chefs!).

We arrived Friday afternoon and I immediately knew I was going to enjoy this beautiful Italian city. The streets were clean and lined with gorgeously old buildings, as you'd expect to see. After checking into our hotel we headed to the Academia to catch a glance at the one and only David. This was definitely my favorite site of the weekend. As you look up at the 14 foot statue you can't help but imagine the incredible work Michelangelo put into the piece. And he's so life-like both in anatomy and the emotion expressed on his face, you can't help but be in awe. Why no pictures? The museum asks you not to take pictures, and I happily oblige. The rest of Friday was spent wandering the city and eating (two of my favorite traveling pastimes).

Saturday we awoke early in hopes of beating the lines for a climb up the Duomo. The Duomo is part of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. The church itself was pretty from the outside (although the relatively recent decision to paint it the old Italian flag colors of green, white, and red was an interesting choice), its inside is somewhat bare, and took not more than 10 minutes to check out.

Here is the some of the gang outside the cathedral- Catherine, Nate, and Erin:

And of course we can't forget Lando:

The Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral:
Looking up at Giotto's bell tower:
After a quick check inside, we readied ourselves for the 463 stair climb up to the top... and we ain't talking little baby steps. Let me show you our journey up from the first steps:
Smiling faces (still at the beginning):
The narrow staircases and corridors made it easy to believe the architects had no idea the amount of people that would be walking to the top on a daily basis:
A look down into the cathedral from a 1/3 of the way up or so:
Not everyone is a rule-follower like myself. There was writing all the way up to the top.
The climb continued to get steeper and steeper up til the last stretch:
Looking down at the group behind me. Yep, the prego led the way for some reason:
Ahhhhh, the top:
A look down at the bell tower. Doesn't look so big anymore, right?:
After enjoying the gorgeous view (obviously I enjoyed it so much, I didn't take too many pictures), we headed back down:
So what does the Duomo look like exactly? Here it is. we were on the platform right below the ball at the top, above the roof:
Needless to say after some lunch, everyone was in need of a "reposo" after our climb:
After a nap for all we headed for Piazza Michelangelo which holds one of the coolest views of Florence. We enjoyed the sunset on a gorgeous night:
Yep, that's our friend the Duomo to the right there:

Landon's treat of the weekend- a gelato cone. Most vendors happily handed one over for our little guy:
Saturday night the group (in total there were about 13 of us plus Landon) went to a FABULOUS Florentine steak place called Cambi. A MUST if you head to Florence. Lucky for us our little guy slept in the stroller while we had a delicious dinner. Have I told you how late they eat here? We probably didn't start eating until 10pm or so. The happy couple:

Nate and I split the primo or first course.. It was sooooo good! It was a simple pasta with pesto AND tomato sauce, or garlicy deliciousness:

Okay, are you ready for this?! Nate's 1 kg (2.2 lb) Florentine steak. Most of the group ate this, the table conquered 4 kgs. It was an amazing thing to see. The boys couldn't get enough, most girls couldn't quite get over how rare it was:

Because of how they cook it, I couldn't have the signature steak (although, I would have loved to), but I was not disappointed by my fillet in the slightest! They didn't skimp on the size at all :) Mmmmmmmm:
Sunday morning the Butler three headed to the Uffizi, one of the oldest and most famous art museums that holds works by all the big names, like Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael. The highlight here for me was "The Birth of Venus". Once again, no pictures allowed in the museum, but I did get this one shot out the window looking down on the famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio:
That about wraps up the weekend, but before I go I thought I'd highlight my favorite things about Florence. 1) The food:

2) The gorgeous streets, home to many markets (great for shopping):
3) Coming across beautiful churches and piazzas, like this:
4) The gelato (known for some of the best... and I concure!)

Sorry no pic

5) Checking it all out with this trooper in tow: