Firenze....Florence

This past week we took a two night trip to Florence with my Mom and Ed.  It was wonderful!  We were really worried about the weather because it was supposed to rain and be really cold the three days we were there, but it turned out great!  It rained the entire drive there and Chad was a litle miserable driving in that, but when we got there it all cleared up!  We had a wonderful afternoon on Wednesday when we arrived.  Our initial plan was to go to Accedemia and see David that afternoon so we could spend the next day touring the city, but our plans were interrupted by an Italian holiday and Accedemia was closed.  That led us to walk to the square where the Florence Cathedral or Duomo is and we were surprised with a big parade and celebration of the Epiphany.  This is when they celebrate the arrival of the three kings to Bethleham to see baby Jesus.  The kids enjoyed watching the parade and we listened as they told the story of the three kings in Italian.  We didn't understand much of it, but it was very beautiful and emmotional. 

Our first view of the Duomo

That evening Chad and I got to go out for a very romantic dinner.  We ate at the Golden View resaurant which had a great view of the Arno River.  Our meal was delicious and it was nice to be out by ourselves in a very romantic city.  We had a nice time walking the city at night and having a very relaxing dinner.

The view of the top of the Florence Cathedral

On Thursday we had a very busy day!  We started out by going to the Accademia Museum where David is.  It was really interesting to see all the paintings and sculptures.  Austin did really great and wanted me to read him all the signs and tell him about the paintings.  He was so well behaved and very interested in everything!  David didn't disappoint us!  It was really cool to see such an important piece of artwork.  I didn't realize how tall he was and it was very impressive!  After that we walked to have some lunch and then the kids and Chad went back for some naptime. 

My mom and I did some walking around during naptime.  We walked to the Santa Croce church which was beautiful!  It is where the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo are.  We had a wonderful time admiring all the artwork.  Then we walked to the Duomo and I climbed the 463 steps to the top!  It was a little exhausting, but well worth the effort.  The view from the top over Florence was just amazing!  The sky was clear and you could see to every corner of Florence!  I took some really amazing pictures. 

The Church in the distance is the Santa Croce

That night my mom and Ed took their turn going out for a really nice dinner.  Chad and I took the kids for one last night walk around Florence.  We had some gelato and coffee and then got some dinner to take home.  That's right.... gelato before dinner!  The next morning it was raining pretty hard and we couldn't really get out to see too much before leaving,  We did go for a short walk to the market to grab a few souvenirs and then went to pick up our car.  We were just very thankful that most of our time in Florence was free of rain and we really got to enjoy the city!