Florence & WINE.

Guys. The struggle is real with these images. The pictures are my favorite part because NO ONE looks at them when I get back and post 3,000 images to Facebook. Tumblr was a great platform and made it very easy to upload pictures and text but didn't offer comments and you all know I love some feedback or to at least know someone is paying attention. Unfortunately it just isn't working, I'm not sure if it's me or the wifi, I'm trying a few different things but no one seems to want my photos uploaded. I promise I'll get it taken care of before our trip is over, you're just gonna have to scroll back through the old posts when I figure it out.

********** 

ANYWAY.. Our first full day in Florence.. Dude. People here love to smoke and they can do it anywhere, we're so spoiled in the US with the smoking laws. It's unfortunate they don't have them here!

Out host, Donatello, is so great. He's really nice and very candid and chatty. We had breakfast this morning which we learned through viewing a commercial is typical in Italy.. Yogurt with cereal and fruit (like a banana), juice, a pastry, and coffee. He also had several types of crackers and spreads (jams & nutella) as well as toast. 

During breakfast I felt awful which is quite unusual, especially when I'm traveling, so I took some meds and then threw up. LOL. Honestly I really believe it was the heat and dehydration. I avoid summer and shorts and I miss the sun 99% of the time because I'm working nights. Sun poisoning. I don't know. However, I felt much better after and I'm not letting anything mess with my vacation.

Off we went to climb our million stairs.. Tickets were easy to obtain at a self service kiosk and while the line said an hour and thirty minutes (they have signs at different intervals) it took maybe 50 minutes for us to get into the Florence Cathedral, aka II Duomo di Firenze or Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, and it was gorgeous. It's also where we're going to mass in the morning, provided I wake up.

The entrance we waited in line for was to Brunelleschi's Dome so we climbed the 463 steep, winding, crazy stairs to get to the top and we were rewarded with some sweaty selfies and breathtaking views. Then we had to climb down. 😂😉

Thankfully mother E made sure I drank a shit ton of water and we had zero issues today even though it was a threatening 95 degrees. And people it is not all dry heat. And these people don't wear shorts!!! You also have to dress appropriately to get into the churches, no knees or shoulders showing, which is understandable. 

After we climbed that we went to Giotto's Bell Tower and made it up, say, 100 of the 414 steps and called it a day. The upside to these stairs is that we can pretty much have as much gelato and pasta as we want. 😍 Next was the baptistery, also beautiful. Then we crossed town and headed to the Basilica of Santa Croce where Michaelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Galileo are buried, among others. It was quite interesting! There is so much history here and I'm amazed at the intricacies of the buildings and the painting of the walls and ceilings inside of them. 

So we worked up our appetite and got some pizza a a little place called Le Colonnine ("the balusters"). We both got pizza (margherita for me and primavera for EP) and it was DELISH. We also shared our first bruschetta and it is SO good.. The tomatoes have that wonderfully fresh garden-earthy taste. The place had wifi and we decided we were too late to visit Pisa because the tower would be closed, and besides that neither of us would have made it up 300 more flights of stairs after yesterday (and today). We walked back to the B&B and just took a break. It is overwhelmingly warm and on top of drinking water.. So much water.. You have to eat and also take breaks in the shade. Ya need a minute!

After we thought we were done for the night- we started to feel MUCH better in the AC so we made a plan to find a wine tasting session, which led us instead to the "market" called il centrale. It's fantastic! All different foods and drinks, and we got to have a cannoli filled fresh on the spot and dusted with pistachios and powdered sugar. We wanted a bottle of red but the connoisseur recommended a moscato with our cannoli. It was more blush than white and went well with the dessert without being too sweet. It was very awesome to be able to pick out a bottle (or a glass) of wine and enjoy it there at the market, people watching!

We were quite parched so we stopped in a store and obtained a 1.5 litre bottle of water for ONE EURO. It's crazy how cheap water is here. And it's crazy how they don't drink it much with their meal, especially considering the heat!

Anyway, we headed back to our B&B again but stopped for a while to listen to a man in the square play guitar. It really cooled off and when we got back to "home" we chilled until we were chilly and then headed out for dinner. 

Dinner was great, we went right down the street, 3 buildings maybe, to a place called La Grotta di Leo (the cave of the lion). We also finally found 'un quarto' of wine.. The table red at this place cost us 2.25€ per glass (9€ for the quart) so we took the opportunity to enjoy ourselves for a few hours like locals by having great conversation accompanied by red wine, lots of hand gestures, and a cute Italian waiter.

I love this place! And definitely have to come back to climb Pisa and visit cinque terre and also wine country. Until then, we are off to Venice tomorrow after a mass in Gregorian Chant!!! #weready #letsdothis

One thing I keep forgetting to mention - the trees here! I don't frequent Florida so maybe it's the same but there are palm trees growing here and they do it right next to evergreens! It's such an interesting thing to see, the big mix of plant life going on. They also have plants on their porches, plants on the terraces in front of restaurants, plants everywhere- green everywhere!

I also have to tell you we finally encountered some gypsies begging for money like they were in Robin Hood and the funniest thing was this gram with her granddaughter who when accosted by the gypsy simply said, Ma'am, you've already asked me for money and I gave it to you." So stern and so serious, we couldn't help but chuckle. Grannies be teaching you a lesson all the time! <3

Ciao!