hot to us since we had been in much cooler climates. While many were wearing jackets, we were in short sleeves, thinking how hot it was.
We got into Florence around noon, after a harrowing ride through the city. For some reason, the Garmin GPS was acting up and taking us all over the city instead of to the parking area under the train station. I finally got my phone out and turned on Google maps to get us there.
For those of you who have never been to Italy, I have to tell you that the driving is crazy! They try to fit five or six lanes of cars into three actual lanes on the road. Add to that all of the motorbikes, bicycles and people wandering across the street, and it can make for a rather stressful drive to one who is not used to it. They have lots of streets going in all directions, they drive fast and people who want to cross the street just step out in faith and walk across in front of the cars with the assumption that the drivers will stop for them. And, crazy as it sounds, we have been both - driver and pedestrian. And, yes, you had better stop for the pedestrian who appears out of nowhere. It is also not uncommon to see people stop in the middle of the street to get out of their cars to yell at another driver. I watched a man get out of his car to yell at our tour bus driver, while holding up traffic in several directions. Such is a day of driving in Italy.
We began our day in Florence by taking a bus tour. We had never done that before and it was very interesting. I realized when we got back tonight that they actually had three different tours that we could have gone on with our pass, but each one would have taken an hour, and we really came here to shop. I also had the Rick Steves tour that we had planned to do but I was afraid the shops would close, so we skipped it. In actuality, it would have taken me to the shopping faster than we found it on our own. If you go to Florence, I highly recommend that you download his walking tour and listen to it. I listened to part of it while we were walking and it was really very informative.
I had contemplated going to the Galleria dell'Academia or the Uffizi Museum but they were closed because it was Monday. State museums are typically closed on Mondays all over Italy. We have been to both before, but Michaelangelo's David is such an imposing statue that I could definitely have gone to see it again! And his prisoners in stone sre so moving that I just want to go over to them and help them get out of the stone that they are imprisoned in. I first saw them on the tour that I took in 1969. I would have to say, though, that my favorite statues are in the Bhorgese Gallery in Rome. We are not going to Rome this year (even though I had planned to go there) because of the driving and the massive number of people that are everywhere. Even though this is not the High Season, there was a large throng of people in Florence. That is why we typically avoid tourist areas when traveling. Unfortunately I have planned several of them for this trip.
After shopping, we wandered the city just taking in the sites. We went to the Porto Vecchio where the gold is sold, but didn't buy any. We went to the Straw Market where we did some shopping. We walked past Dante's house, and the Duomo and went inside the church of Santa Maria Novella. It had gorgeous stained glass windows and beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings. God has blessed so many people with such great talents! I could never begin to carve something out of stone, or paint beautiful pictures on ceilings (or anywhere for that matter), or put together stained glass windows, or build a dome high up on a building. I am so very thankful that God has given me eyes to see these things, as well as the opportunity.
While walking down one street, we stumbled across a store that had perfect gifts for one of our sons and his family! Now just a few more gifts to go. As can be expected, I have found lots of things that I could have gotten for our youngest granddaughter, but I have had to restrain myself.
And, of course, a visit to Italy would not be complete without pizza and gelatto. We had my favorite gelatto - pistachio. Yum!
We got back to the hotel around 9PM, after another "Mad Hatter" ride through the city. Thank you, Lord!
After a meal of salad and veal scallopine, we retired to the room where I began this blog. And, such was our day in Florence, Italy.
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