We slept in today because most of us didn't get to bed until midnight. This was either due to the naps on the train or due to Johnny wanting to watch soccer on television until late. We decided to skip the hotel brunch and find a cafe on the way to Ponte Vecchio and the rest of our walking tour we planned. The cafe was just what we were looking for with fresh pastries, fruit and lavazza coffee. The girls in the shop were great and were off for the day. Outside it was starting to get hot but still nice considering we are in Florence in August. Once we got to Ponte Vecchio we looked down at the river and were reminded just how beautiful Florence is! We walked past dozens of gold and silver shops and joked about getting Shelly a big ring. We then headed over to the Uffizi courtyard to look at the statues and fountain of neptune. We continued onto the Palazza Vecchio and the Piazza della Signoria and soon found ourselves at Orsan Michele Church. We looked at all of the statues outside and the gothic architecture inside. John ask a bunch of questions about presence of God in church and we appeared to of answered them to his satisfaction. He and Gina lit a candle and prayed which was actually pretty heavy. Later that evening John and Gina both said that this was one of their favorite stops of the day!
We then walked down Via de Calzaiudi towards the Cathedral of Florence (Duomo) and the Baptistery. We stood in line to go into the Baptistery and studied the bronze doors while we waited. Once we got in we did a 10 min audio tour which was interesting and just enough information. All of us marveled at the mosaic dome and other art inside which once again spurred more questions and more attempts at answers. After that tour we went into the Cathedral and looked at the fresco s and marveled at the massive space inside. It was after 1 pm and we had 2:30 reservations at Accademia (to see David and other works of art) We decided to grab a light lunch near the Accademia. Surprisingly there were not a lot of options but we found a small place with tables on the side walk and some shade. We had a pannini, pizza and some cold drinks.
After lunch we went to Accademia and since we had reservations we were able to get right in. We immediately went to view the statue of David and Shelly said "he's still got it". We looked at the other works of art which led to questions from the kids about the what the paintings or sculpture depicted. We were happy that the kids were pretty interested in most of the art here. After the Accademia we stopped for cappuccinos and ice cream bars and relaxed are aching feet (and legs) After a short rest we took some time to shop around a pick up a few things.
It started to get close to 7 pm and it looked like it was threatening to rain. We heard that there was a good restaurant on the same street as Mama Gina's so we headed in that direction. We believe we found it: Tipica Cucina Toscan is now one of our new favorites here in Florence. We were given a table tucked into a little cove towards the back of the restaurant. We had a variety of crostini, fresh mozz with truffles, arugula with parm, fresh grilled veggies, pasta with pesto and pasta with fresh cherry tomato's and yes Vino. We finished with strawberries over marscapone, tiramisu, ice cream cake and creme brulee. After dinner it was raining but it soon stopped and we walked home. Once we got home we all took showers, watched more soccer and discussed train options for tomorrow. We are sad about having to leave tomorrow but we are also looking forward to our next stop. Until then...Ciao!
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