Firenze!

Firenze is Florence, just how the Italians say it. We only spent one very busy day in this city.

The first location we went was the Accademia. The deserving main attraction of this museum shadows everything else in it, almost literally. Seventeen foot tall "David" by Michelangelo is stunning. Not only the sheer height, but also the lifelike detail. We loved David, unlike most of the other sculptures of him, where he looks smug, in this one he appears to be sizing Goliath up. Art Professors believe that is because this sculpture is to be before the actual slaying occurred, but Michelangelo hasn't confirmed that to us just yet..

The Accademia doesn't allow photos, and the outside isn't impressive at all, so I have nothing photographic to share with you from the experience. 

I do, however, have this picture of the Duomo. 

It's huge, this is only the very, very front. The colorful detail on it, and the underlying white, made it my favorite building in Florence, and at that time, Italy. Of course, only the exterior. We didn't actually go in, it was closed by the point that we had time. 

We then went to the Bargello museum. That is a collection of the sculpture and art of the Medeci Family. It has a lot of Medieval history and such, but for me, it pretty drull quickly. Nonetheless, we saw every bit of it. 

Also, no pictures supposed to be taken. It didn't seem strictly enforced, since mum took a lot, but either I'm a rule follower or none of it interested me enough to photograph. One of the previous isn't accurate..

At lunch, we actually ran into Gina! 

We then went on to the Uffizi. 

The Uffizi is wonderful! Huge, and slightly confusing because random rooms were closed due to renovation, but it was filled with gorgeous masterpieces around every corner. We had a lovely time there. There are no pictures there either, surprise. So this is a pretty boring post, sorry. 

That night we had a recommended steak Florentine. It. Was. Enormous. 

That plate is bigger than my head! 

It was very tasty. 

We then went back to the apartment, relaxed for awhile, and got sleep so we could catch our train the next morning. 

We went to our church meeting early the next morning just outside of Pisa. 

The only people who attend that one is a sweet family with four young kids, and a wonderful lady from Romania. Every week the lady brings a homemade chocolate cake to the children. We had a lovely meeting, just the five of us. The family speaks English and Italian, so they could translate for the other woman. 

That lady rode back with us for some time to her stop before Rome, it was a very delightful experince. We greatly enjoyed her company.

Then we arrived in Rome fairly early, found our apartment, and got oriented for awhile. 

And thus ends the Florence story. Sorry for the lack of pictures. 

Until later,

~Roaming Rapunzel

Ventimiglia

Bonjourno! I apologize yet again for my lack of posting, we did not have internet at some of the places we stayed. To walk you through the last few days, and places efficiently, I will make a new post for each location. This one is for the town we had just arrived in by train is my last post, Ventimiglia. 

Ventimiglia is a small, not very touristy, town on the Italian Riviera. This is the Mediterranean that laps on Italy's western coast. It was beautiful this, I instantly started enjoying myself when we saw the ocean. This could be because I was six months old the last time I saw it, but you know..

The bed and breakfast we stayed at was wonderful. The hosts were kind and very helpful, and had two dogs. The big one, named Carlos, was very sweet and liked to people watch the street below from our balcony. 

He is half my size and only three years old!

The responsible one, Maya, took awhile to warm up to us, but accepted us relatively quickly. No picture is available, because unlike Carlos, she charged for photos. ;)

We got to relax the night we got in, and mum was so tired she went nearly straight to sleep. I, however, was a bit peckish, so before she fell asleep mum granted me permission to run over to the gelato place across the street. It was a very safe feeling neighborhood so I did. 

Yum.

I may or may not have temporarily struggled with the key/lock on the door to get back in for 30 minutes, but I see no need to elaborate on that..

The next day we had a lovely breakfast, and met the other woman staying at the bed and breakfast, Gina. 

Mum having breakfast in the kitchen. 

We immediately really enjoyed Gina's company and made plans with her for the day.

She showed us a great morning market. 

Then Gina showed us a beach used only by the locals that our host told her about.  It was amazing, as was the walk over there. 

!!!

My favorite picture. 

I might have maybe become entirely infatuated with the ocean. Possibly.

To the beach!

The beach.

So lovely. 

We had a fantastic time there for a little while. 

After this we decided to walk up to the medieval city atop the hills there. Here are a few pictures of the city and the streets in it. 

 The entrance to the city.

Lighted laundry. 

Random old street number one.

And number two.

Gorgeous mailbox overlooking the ocean.

Italian flag and old bell tower, and the foothills of the Alps! Oh my! 

A tiny car and flag party going on up here..

Now, for me to tell you about one of my favorite parts of the town (besides the ocean, of course.)

These trees.

They grow together. Over streets, fences, anything.. They somehow sense the other trees presence, grow towards it, and literally merge together. Amazing, to put it lightly.

Also, awww. 

And for effect, we'll throw in a palm tree silhouette. 

That evening we had dinner at a fancy restaurant with Gina. If you can't tell, we really like Gina! 

Don't worry, I didn't eat this. It was only the candle on the table.

We liked the town (and Carlos!) so much we decided to stay one more night. 

More gelato-like substance. Gelato is to Roma as pastries are to France. 

The next morning we went for an early swim and market stop before packing out bags and getting on the train with Gina! We then rode for seven hours on a train to Florenzia with the windows open. It was a nice ride, we went through thirty five tunnels. Mum told me to say that, apparently she was counting them. I, however, got in trouble with the "train police" for sleeping on the train. (What on earth though, really?) 

So we ended up in Florence that evening, parted ways with Gina, arranging to meet her for a meal (or gelato) the next day, and went off in search of our apartment there. Now as I said, there will be a separate post for each place. But so as not to keep you in suspense, we found the apartment. (How unexciting, I know.)

"We'll be back after a short break!

This has been,"

~Roaming Rapunzel