We woke too early to enjoy the complementary breafast so the hotel packed us breakfast to go. The chocolate croissants were pretty good if slightly over cooked. We enjoyed the juice and nibbled on the several different kinds of crackers all day. We got off the train and "pulled our suitcases the half mile to the heart of Florence, the Duomo square. I’m not sure there’s a more striking church in the world. It rises up in a crowded city in a square that has no geometric relation to a square. There are at least half a dozen streets that converge on city center. The white, green, and red of the exterior are not universally applauded, but I find them unique and beautiful in their own way, but the red brick dome has been the focal point for more than 500 years! Brunelleschi’s architectural wonder is still the world’s largest dome built of individual bricks." From our hotel room we could see the Duomo. This was far and away our best hotel of the trip. We dropped of our luggage and headed out for our trip to the top of the Duomo.
Thus began stair day- over 400 steps to the top of the dome. The narrow stairs were fun to navigate sometimes bending at odd angles to adapt to the shape of the dome.
Our journey to the top took us up close to the mosaic on the dome. The Last Judgment painting was impressive but a bit disturbing on the lowest level as it depicted all sorts of evil creatures and people being dragged to Hell. The boys didn't appreciate the nudity or grotesque figures.
We were tired by the time we reached the top (and we had ditched our masks early on) but the view was worth it! Wow. I loved taking in the layout of the city, the historical sites, and the Tuscan countryside.
After climbing back down the stairs we checked out the interior of the cathedral then ascended Giotto’s Campanile, the bell tower adjacent to the Duomo. My legs weren't too excited but the boys were all in so we went up an additional 400+ steps to the top.
I enjoyed seeing the rooftop of the Duomo and getting perspective on how huge the cathedral is. We chalked up 850 steps for the day by the time we climbed down the tower. The last stop on our plaza tour (with some help from Rick Steve) was the baptistry, a large circular building at the western end of the plaza with gorgeous bronze doors and stunning mosaics inside.
For lunch we stopped a delicious looking bakery. Greg and Andrew got sandwiches, Mack had two waffles and I can't remember what I had except that I couldn't resist this donut filled with pudding-yum. We all had a laugh and the english sign in the bathroom that said, "hold down handle to download".
On to the Santa Croce Basilica where Galileo and Michelangelo, among others, were burried.
This is Michelangelo's tomb. The church also boasted a Donatello bronze.
From there we traveled to and over the Arno, catching our first glimps of Ponte Vecchio, a really cool bridge. Andrew, trying so hard to spot animals, spotted a "vulture" that was really a goose. We were relentless in the teasing. We hiked up the hill (adding at least 150 more stairs) to Piazzale Michaelangelo for the best views of Florence. Arriving at the bottom of hill the boys promptly found some gelato because their feet needed a break and they hadn't had any yet today! I got some sort of baked apple thing instead - I love bakeries.
We crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge on the way back to our hotel and Greg found his dream gelato - melon and coconut- he was glad he hadn't had gelato with the boys.
We took a much needed 45 minute rest before walking to our cooking class where we joined by about 15 others making pizza and gelato.
"Sharing our table were Javier and Carolyn, honeymooners from the Bay Area. We had lively conversation throughout the evening and I was glad for the boys to be exposed to good, interesting, diverse people. Javier is Chinese Peruvian (born and raised in Peru but his parents had immigrated from China), but moved to the states as a teenager and is now a US citizen. Carolyn was born in the US, but is Korean American. They both filled the stereo type of having grown up working in family restaurants started by their immigrant parents. Through hard work and education that were now thriving financially. They had lots of questions about our family and parenting. Despite their restaurant experience, Lisa made the best pizza dough and pizza as confirmed by our Italian chef and instructor. I thought I was doing good until I had to round it into the flattened crust—it ended up looking a bit heart shaped, but it tasted great."
It was plain to see I was the only one at our table who had worked much with dough - the class was really fun and good for the boys, and we got gelato again so totally worth it.
Back at the hotel we chatted with Natali for a little while then got ready for bed, grateful for our separate bedrooms and bathrooms. Another 20,000+ step day with 1000+ stairs - we slept well that night. Although I was grateful for earplugs to block out the accordion music that was going when I drifted off.
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