Thank you, Florence.

"...typing this in seat 22A on the flight from Florence to Paris. trying not to worry that we had to check our bags through to Paris and that we weren't able to get boarding passes for our final flight to Atlanta. we have a four hour layover...surely that will be enough time to resolve any issues...in the meantime, looking back on last night is making me happy (and sad...)

We ended up at the wine bar where we had our first lunch and another wonderful dinner. But this time we got seats at the bar...front row! The place is so tiny this one guy (of course Francie found out his name...Emiliano) runs it with one other server. He prepares all the plates and really puts on a show. or maybe he did it just for us? Sara and I watched him plate an order of anchovy crostini and ordered a plate for ourselves (Sue and Francie had sausage with melted cheese...to each their own!)

yes that's fresh mozzarella, layered on toasted bread, topped with the anchovies, then drizzled with olive oil and that one fresh chive. it was...divine.

for the "main course", Sara ordered a cheese plate. Emiliano put on a(nother) show.

Francie had a 6am flight; probably a good thing or we might've ordered more food and wine! and then this last photo probably wouldn't have been so great.

We said tearful goodbyes this morning... dear friends and wonderful memories. Grazie, Firenze.

P.S. 15 minutes of free wifi in the Paris airport and all is well!

l'ultimo da Firenze.

...the title says this is the last from Florence, but that really means the last blog post. We still have another twelve hours here. Plenty of time to enjoy what we hope will be a wonderfully memorable dinner and a smooth and uneventful departure tomorrow morning. 

Yesterday ended up being all about the sunset. One of Sara's itinerary requests was to visit the Piazza Michealangelo (high above the city on the southeast bank of the Arno with stunning views)...at sunset. We planned our day around it. well that and the food and the shopping. We started out with a revisit to a favorite shop for scarves, and then a favorite shop for handpainted leather bags. I love that we've only been here since Monday and we already have "favorite" shops!

Lunch was a new place, though, a Mozzarella Bar. Second thing I love about Florence is that they have cheese bars. We had a "tasting plate" featuring three kinds of mozzarella; we added a pesto tasting and a basket of focaccia. oh my.

After lunch, we wandered, shopped a bit more and made our way to Santa Croce in the late afternoon. This is the oldest church in the city, but I wasn't in a church mood. Francie and Sue toured...and Sara and I had coffee. The good stuff started after with a visit to the gelateria our food lovers guidebook recommended. I had salted caramel and mascarpone and it was by far my best combo (of course I can't imagine anything not being delicious with salted caramel!)

..and then the views and the climb and the sunset. This first view is just after we crossed the river; I was enchanted by the relection.

And from the piazza

The gathering on the steps was a huge part of the fun. I think the combined age of our party was significantly more than...just about everyone else - take wine and cups and cameras...and if you're not too vain, a pillow, the stone steps get hard!

...and finally the sunset.

we left the piazza just before the light so we could see the sunset reflected in the river.

I'm so glad Sara wanted to do this...like the 463 steps we climbed on Tuesday to see the city from the Duomo, this view and the accompanying experience are memories I'll always treasure. 

Today we visited Santa Maria Novella - glad I was over my pout about paying to see a church - it was beautiful.

...had pizza (back at La Busolla - our 3rd visit and still delicious) and gelato.

shopped and got back early to pack.

We have a long layover in Paris tomorrow and if there's wifi, I'll post...otherwise it'll be next week and back home. and I am really so...not ready.  Ciao!

e un terzo da Firenze.

...the week is flying by! we spent yesterday as planned - a little shopping, gelato, pizza, wine and the Uffizi. And I have photos of all of it to share! I remembered waterlogue yesterday and had fun painting. Here you go:

On the way to the restaurant...

Then lunch at La Bussolo. We were delighted to learn that the restaurant's owner also owns the apartment where we're staying.

We had two pizzas, both with whole wheat crust; one topped with tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella and the other with grilled vegetables.

We spent the afternoon at the Uffizi - no photos allowed...but I snuck one of the ceiling.

There is a very nice outdoor terrace at the end of the 2nd floor tour...photos allowed!

We did a little shopping on our way to gelato.

Chocolate chip and coffee this time.

We think there might be some magic about gelato that any two flavors combine to make something delicious.

And home. Our apartment has a lovely terrace.

For dinner, we went back to the wine bar where we had our first lunch. It's a tiny place with just a handful of tables. We had sliced meats and cheeses...and a lot of wine.

We have two full days left and no more museums...hopefully that means lots of photos...and plenty of food, wine and shopping..Ciao!

un altro da Firenze.

...oh my, it just keeps getting better! here's a quick look at the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday. Just after I published the last post, we headed to dinner at La Bussola. Quick mirror-check before we walk out the door.

Sorry, no photos of our meal, but it was delicious. I've been taking photos of almost all the food, but I'm not happy with how most of them turn out (blaming the iPhone and the bad lighting!) We heard about this place because there was a bottle of their wine in the welcome basket from our apartment's owner. It was a great recommendation - we enjoyed the food so much we plan to return for lunch today. (and maybe the lighting will be better!) In any event, we had pizza and burrata and we were too full for dessert.

The walk home along the river was a light show.

...and then it was Wednesday.  We spent the whole day (minus lunch and a little bit of shopping) at the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. The palace was home to the Medicis (and other royalty) and packed full of art and other lovely pieces. No photos allowed, but I snuck this one to give you an idea of the opulence.

...and this wasn't even a room with "art".  Our necks were sore from looking up; all the ceilings were decorated, many with paintings depicting mythological stories. The paintings were mostly Renaissance; this is certainly the largest collection I've seen from that period. I really enjoyed it.

On our way back from lunch, we stopped to check out the handful of artists outside the palace. This one charmed me and Francie; we both bought pieces depicting the Duomo (I'll share them later...they're a surprise right now, but you can get a feel from the couple shown next to him).

We spent the rest of the afternoon climbing and touring the Boboli Gardens. The views were amazing. This one is before we climbed very high.

...a little later...

...and close to the top.

Sara was really patient with the rest of us taking photos.

She had the whole city of Florence laid out in front of her!

It was after six by the time we got back to the apartment. We had late dinner reservations and a few hours to simply relax.  Sadly, Sara couldn't figure out how to stream a movie on my iPad "legally", so we read and napped. We arrived at the restaurant just after nine and it was still going strong. We started with a meat and cheese plate (and Katie, we all enjoyed a bite for you!), continued with another burrata (this one was better than the one before), pastas and a salad. And this time we had a little room for dessert..just one!

Everything about this meal was worth repeating. We told our server we'd be back Saturday night.

...and now it's Thursday. We are headed back across the river and plan to do a little shopping, a little eating (we missed gelato yesterday, so that's a must), and a lot of museum - we have tickets for the Uffizi this afternoon.

Ciao!

saluti da Firenze.

...I realized as I was going through the photos from yesterday and today that having four of us here means a lot more people photos...and a lot more photos of me and Sara. and that makes me really happy.

My first impression of Florence is that it is old. and it seems proud of it. Aging gracefully, if you will. The two girlfriends who've joined us here have known me since before both Katie and Sara were born. This city is the perfect celebration of long-time friendships, where you see the whole of life - good and bad and everything in between.

All four of us arrived on little sleep (and Sue and Francie were adjusting to timezone changes from the US). We decided yesterday would be a success if we explored a bit and enjoyed few meals. We did...and bonus scarf photo after dinner!

That's Sue on the left, Sara, me and Francie. On the way to dinner we noticed that our street has a special shrine...we can only hope it means good things for all of us this week!

Today the two big things were the Duomo and (for Sue and Francie) the David. We left the apartment before 10am and didn't get back until nearly 6pm. Here are the highlights.

The Duomo. absolutely stunning on the outside. and a great landmark (especially now that I know it runs east/west and not north/south...lesson learned the hard way...)

It's beautiful on the inside too, especially the painting in the dome

...up close...

That up-close view is from the way down...yep! all four of us climbed all 463 steps to the outside of the Duomo. This was a highlight of the trip for sure!

We celebrated after with pizza and a toast - 463 steps!

...much walking later we had our first gelato. mine was mandarin and blackberry.

We made our way back home via the Uffizi (we have tickets to see the inside on Thursday)...

and the Ponte Vecchio (aka "the fancy bridge").

And now it's time for fresh makeup...and dinner. More soon. Ciao!