The One Where We Go to Florence

It's been a while since I've blogged. School started, we had visitors in September and then our fall break came upon us. It's been a busy time. My mother came to visit us for two weeks in October, during the boys' fall break. Mom has been to Switzerland before, back in the '80s for skiing. So I thought she might enjoy something a little different. We planned to drive to Florence and Venice, and what could be more different from Switzerland than a road trip to Italy?

Amazing Tuscan view from our patio

After numerous tips from fellow expats, we decided to get up early (like ear-ly!) to start our drive. Google maps had said it would take about 6 hours to get to Florence but many expats warned us of the Gotthard tunnel and how backed up it gets. I was impressed with how quickly we got up and out the door. We pulled out of our garage at 6:30am and we made it to the tunnel by 8:15 with virtually no other traffic. I think it helped that it was a Sunday morning. After a few stops along the way (but not enough for Grandma Nancy) for fuel, espresso, and snacks we made it to our hotel before 2:00 p.m. (I think Google maps is optimistic most of the time, and Google maps also doesn't have three children).

Cheeky looks on the faces of the statues in the garden

First impressions? The villa we stayed in was amazing. My friend Beth recommended it as they stayed there last year with their three children. It was beautiful and spacious. We rented two adjoining apartments and it was perfect. We had two bathrooms, two kitchens, and one beautiful patio with an amazing view. The kids very much enjoyed the garden and played out in the hedges much of the time during our stay.

One of my favorite pictures because they had so much fun in those hedges

On the Ponte Vecchio

After we got settled in and unpacked, we decided to walk into town. Our concierge said it was about a 30 minute walk. Again, with 3 kids it may have taken us a little longer, but luckily we found a gelateria right away to reward us for the walk. We walked along the Ponte Vecchio (the only bridge in Florence not destroyed during World War II) and enjoyed the many works of public art. The kids enjoyed running around after spending so many hours in the car, and we all enjoyed the sights of the city.

We decided it was best to taxi home, so we got back to the villa in time for dinner. The villa doesn't have a restaurant, but it has a kitchen and if you tell the concierge you'd like dinner, they provide it (at an additional cost, which was very reasonable). So on the first night we had a wonderful dinner in their dining room and we were the only ones there (which may be because we asked for a 7:00 p.m. dinner time, which is early in Italy). They brought us an amazing pasta dish in a tomato sauce (that Charlie actually ate!!), a wonderful chicken dish and a beautiful salad. We also had a bottle of their house wine, which they produce on the estate from their own vines. The only thing that wasn't a hit with our carbaholic children was the bread. Traditional Tuscan bread is made without salt (it's like their version of the tea party - not using salt due to salt taxes during the middle ages). However, the villa also makes its own olive oil from its olive trees, so that helped a little with the bread (at least for the grownups!).

Many, many rounds of "cin, cin" were done on this trip

The Siena Duomo

The next day we decided that since most of the museums in Florence were closed, we would take a drive for the day to Siena and Monteriggioni, about an hour south of Florence. We left in the morning, found parking & walked around the beautiful medieval town of Siena, toward theduomo. I bought tickets for my mom and I and the boys to tour the duomo. Tobi and Caroline opted to walk around outside. It's a very interesting, very old church (circa 12oos). I'm not sure I could say I loved the aesthetics - the stripes are a bit jarring - but it certainly was interesting to view.

The ceiling was beautiful; notice the striped marble

Striped columns

The marble mosaic floor covers the entire floor. Unfortunately, because the floor dates from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, it is quite fragile and is only viewable a few weeks out of the year. Fortunately for us they were available for view when we visited. We even got to watch a man restoring a portion of the floor. This was particularly fascinating to Charlie. I found it a good lesson: history isn't just some old stuff that never changes. It's something that people have to endeavor to preserve and restore. There is a great deal of effort on the part of many who work tirelessly to make sure it lasts for the future.

Restoring the centuries old floor

Siena's Piazza del Campo

After we toured the duomo we walked to the Piazza del Campo, Siena's main piazza, and one of Europe's most treasured medieval squares. We found a trattoria for lunch and did some people watching over pizza and pasta. After a gelato stop after lunch, we headed to our car and drove about 20 minutes to Monteriggioni.

Charlie was happy in Italy because he could always get pasta with butter

Grandma Nancy & kids in Siena

The Fountain of Joy, built in 1419

Gelato makes everyone happy

Monteriggioni is a small medieval walled town near Siena, built in the early 1200s as a Sienese fortification against Florence. Today it's definitely a tourist destination and our kids loved it. The boys visited the Armory museum with Tobi. We all toured the tiny chapel. Mom and I toured the wine and olive oil shops, and of course, we had gelato. There weren't a lot of tourists there that day and the kids loved running up and down the cobble-stoned piazzas. It was a beautiful sunny day and a really lovely afternoon.

Vines outside Monteriggioni

Just outside the city walls of Monteriggioni

Basta gelato!

The kids love anything to do with knights

Caroline just wanted to sit down

We left Monteriggioni in the late afternoon and started back for Florence. We had a little bit of down time before another fantastic dinner at the villa.

Lining up to see some art!

Since you can't take pictures with the real deal, we had to do this here!

On Tuesday we made our way into the city (via taxi this time - and let's just say I think the taxi driver was telling a pedestrian to have a really, really nice day. Complete with hand gestures) and started our touring at Piazza della Signoria. The public art in Florence is amazing, and nowhere more so than this piazza. It's the piazza where the original David used to stand (now there's a replica so you can take pictures with him). The boys especially loved the statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa. Charlie took numerous photos (some a bit blurry) from numerous angles of Medusa's head.

Art's cool when someone gets their head cut off!

Florence's duomo

We walked from the piazza to the duomo but decided against going in because the crowds were large and we had timed tickets to see the David. We walked on to the Galleria dell'Accademia and got in line for our timed tickets (if you go, do yourself a favor and get your tickets online in advance). It is a rather small museum with one obvious attraction. But one of my favorite memories of the trip will always be when we first got into the museum, we stood in a room with massive paintings and I watched as the boys leaned in and pointed and discussed things. They had interesting ideas of what they were seeing and it was fun to watch. The room with the David was interesting because there were so many people and so many lively discussions going on, but it also felt very tranquil. Like you cannot help but stand in awe of something so incredible. That a human being could craft something so sublime out of marble is almost too hard to believe. The room is lined by some of Michelangelo's later works that were not finished and the stark contrast between them and David gives you an even greater appreciation of the journey it must have taken to craft such a work of art.

Playing in the olive grove

After we visited David, the kids had had enough of art-schmart. So I bought them gelato (again!) and took them in a taxi back to the villa for some R&R while Mom and Tobi went to the Uffizi. After Caroline's nap, I took the kids out into the olive grove of the villa. It was so beautiful there and so peaceful. The kids loved running up and down the hills and through the trees. I always wanted to go to Tuscany but the likelihood was small that we would get to Tuscany in the short time we're living in Europe. I'm so glad we stayed outside the city for this reason. We were three kilometers outside the city but it felt a million miles from the bustle of a city and the kids responded in such a wonderful way that I actually wished we could have stayed a few more days.

I had made reservations at Acqua al 2 for my mother and I for the last night in Florence, at her request. But she was so worn out by the massive Uffizi, that she volunteered for Tobi and me to enjoy a night out while she ate in the apartment with the kids. We had a really lovely night out and enjoyed seeing how beautiful Florence looked at night.

On Wednesday we said ciao, bella to Villa le Piazzole and I cannot lie; I was a little sad to leave.

Cheers!

Tiffany

Up next: Venice and Verona