Florence

We traveled to Florence on Monday.  The museums are often closed on Mondays, so it is a good day to travel.  We took the high speed train from Rome to Florence, which was really nice.

We made the 15 minute walk from the hotel back to the train station with no problems.  I am always nervous in the train stations.   Rome and Barcelona are two of the most likely places to be pick-pocketed. A group of people tried to rob me around the Barcelona train station last year, creating a distraction with one person and another trying to grab the luggage.  So, I was definitely paranoid in the stations.  We had no problems anywhere, but we made it as difficult as possible for the thieves, hoping they would target someone else.  I was always relieved to get away from the crowds at and around the stations.

Once in Florence, we checked into a nice cottage on the outskirts of the city.  We did not want to stay in the high priced city center.  We found a great residence type hotel across the river from the main sites.  It was secluded and quiet, nestled among the trees.  It was only about a 15 minute walk down to the Ponte Vecchio.

Because the museums are closed, Monday is also a great day to do laundry.  Not the most fun thing to do on vacation, but traveling light means that it has to be done sometime and clean clothes are always nice. We usually grabbed something to eat as we hung out in the laundromat.

Our days were filled with museums and walking through the hills of Florence.  We found a small pottery shop along one of the side streets on our side of the river.  The artist's shop was on the first floor of the family home.  The home has been in the family for over 100 years.  She creates and paints all her own pottery.  We bought several souvenirs from her. 


The Duomo in Florence is another large dome that towers above all the other buildings in the city.  And, of course, we had to climb it.  The first climb was many stairs up a circular staircases, bringing you to the interior of the dome.  As we made our way around the inner dome, there was a church service going on 75 feet below and they were singing.  Their voices echoed up into the dome and gave us a small concert.  Once at the top, we could see across the entire city and out to the old city wall.  Just beyond that wall was where our hotel sat.


Florence is a smaller city than Rome or Lyon, but it is still a big city.  We enjoyed seeing the fantastic sculptures and Michelangelo's David, but the crowds of tourists and all the associated tourist trinket sellers makes it harder for me to enjoy this picturesque Tuscan town.