High-speed rail is just about as wonderful as a large bowl of pasta with a 9-oz pour of Malbec.
I'll pass on the Malbec, but... yes. Yes it is.
looking like the typical American entourage that Europeans cringe at every day.
I find it interesting that all of you were wearing Crocs
She was so sweet she even walked towards where we were, about a block and a half away, and grabbed Anara’s suitcase and hauled it herself as she guided us to the right apartment. I mean really?! We were gobsmacked!
Very nice of her. And... frankly I'm not all that surprised. There are so many nice people out there.
The décor was freaking amazing with antiques packed inside, old books, glassware. Anara even exclaimed, “I’d love to decorate a place like this myself someday!”.
Sure looks like you scored on the digs.
As with a lot of this trip, I had packed a LOT into each destination and day
I used to do that, but I find I'm starting to slow down a little. It could also be that right now my brain is too full to even contemplate trip planning.
we raced off to the Cathedral of Santa Maria di Fiore, often referred to as “The Duomo” which means the same thing.
Huh. I always thought it was a translation for "Dome"... Imagine my surprise.
I'm surprised to see a painting on the outside. Surely it must need restoration on a fairly regular basis.
Mom and Dad rested at the Airbnb for a short bit, then slowly made their way to the Cathedral Plaza and met up with us a bit later after we’d toured it.
I'm thinking there's no way they could have come
close to tackling those stairs.
And thus began a small piece of hell inside a church.
That's not how it's supposed to work...
That's
exactly what that looks like!
Okay, raise your hand if you have ever climbed 400 steps while getting pressured from behind?
Gorgeous view
(yes, Friends, you better pray you don’t overdo it going up, or you’ll be stuck in Bell Tower Purgatory forever)
To this day, American tourists can be found in the Bell Tower, aimlessly wandering. If you listen closely, you can hear the repeated whispers of "I am
not walking down those stairs!"
Oh God, please let me be able to walk to the bathroom on my own when I’m 70…
Nah. The bathroom will come to you. Although for some, it Depends.
If my children didn’t mock me enough by finishing what I could not, they then proceeded to get in line for the Dome climb. I got in line too succumbing to their hardcore, youthful pressure but chickened out at the last-minute when enough time had passed that sanity was once restored in my oxygen-deprived brain
For a second there, I thought you were going to try to do it.
I completely understand why Quasimodo never left his bell tower loft.
Whoa...
But as is the theme with this trip, “there just wasn’t enough time to do all the things!”
There never is.
(Notice the worn marble stairs where centuries of visitors have made their mark.)
I have seen that and find it fascinating.
Absolutely stunning.
And looking outward onto the city of Florence:
What a view!
Stay tuned for more busts than you can handle…..
Woot!!!
Oh... Wait... You mean statues, don't you.
Well, that's nice too, I guess.