After wandering through the streets of Florence last night, we were excited to see how much more we could fall in love with Florence today.
We got up and had the breakfast that the hotel provided. Yes, we made sure it was provided and free. Then we were on our way to the Duomo. As we were walking along, we looked down one of the streets to our left and saw a bunch of tent stands with souvenirs and such: this was the famous "leather district" of Florence.
The tent stands had purses, leather jacks, tourist items, you name it, bustling out of their tents. It kind of reminded me of a more formalized/organized swap meet. We walking through and looked around and bought things from the stands. We stopped at one tent and met an Italian man, near our age, and talked to him for awhile. He told us he would show us around Florence later that night if we wanted. After we were done chatting with him, we walked further in to the tents and found a market, this was the "Mercat Centrale." Just like the bocqueria, but indoors and much cleaner, the same thing as what we went to in France. I like these little markets, the fresh fruit is always so luscious and the cheeses/meats always look like they would be good.
We spent a few hours walking around the leather district and Mercat Centrale then continued our journey to the Duomo. Looking up and down streets and alleys, we turned around the corner and gazed at this huge cathedral that was right in front of us. The outside of the cathedral was beautiful, so we had to go inside. We walked around the cathedral and took pictures and then asked the guard how to get to the Duomo, he laughed and said "this is the Duomo." Alright, so apparently the cathedral and the Duomo are the same thing, OOPS! Next to the Duomo was a giant tower with a long line waiting to go inside.
Everyone I had talked to in Florence and those who have been to Florence said to make sure to climb to the top of the Duomo, so this must be what they are talking about. Standing in line, almost to the front, I looked over and saw a little sign that read "no lift, 414 steps." Well, it was too late to turn back now! If nothing else, it would be my workout for the day.
Walking up those steps, I almost thought I was going to faint. Step, after step, after step. One in front of the other.
Finally, I made it to the second of the three openings (about 350 steps) and decided this was high enough: not because I was tired of walking, but because my fear of heights kind of kicked in. From here I could see all of Florence, the steps were so worth it! What a beautiful view which turned in to great pictures as well!
Well, as the saying goes: what goes up, must come down. So I made my trek down the stairs and out of the tower to find Amanda. When I got to the bottom I noticed that my legs were shaking and I couldn't stand in place. Whew, I needed some water, or better yet, gelato!
After the Duomo, we walked further down the street to find the Gucci Museum. I had to go in, there was no questions. Amanda decided she would sit outside and read while I was inside. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the museum so I don't have any pictures, but many pictures in my head and a memory of what I saw. I was in heaven, I love learning about fashion and designers' lives/ inspirations.
Then we were getting hungry, and after walking all of the steps, the gremlin in my stomach was growling. It was time to eat. We sat down next to the statue of Michelangelo and had pizza and listened to the according someone was playing in the piazza: that's how people beg for money in Italy, playing instruments, it's quite nice and I appreciate it much more.
Our stomachs were filled and our ears were in heaven but time was ticking and daylight was burning. It was on to our next destination: the vecchio bridge. As we walked across the bridge it was lined with beautiful expensive jewelry shops.
My friend who recommended Il Teatro also recommended that the best gelato was located on the other side of vecchio bridge. I bet you can guess what the first place we went when we crossed the bridge was. Oh yes, a gelato shop, and to say it was the best gelato I've had was quite the understatement.
We walked around eating our gelato and licking our lips and came upon piazza pitti: apparently the largest palace in Florence. Tickets to get in to the museum were 13 euro and we had never even heard of it, so we decided that pictures of the outside would suffice.
With the thought of the leather district still in the back of our minds, we continued to another bridge, crossed and made our way back to the leather markets to walk around and explore a little more.
The leather markets were a close second, after the Gucci museum, to my favorite place in Florence.
Since we seemed to have success at Il Teatro the night before, we decided to head back to the same street/piazza and find another place to eat for the night. This time we ate in the Sant Croce piazza, right next to the cathedral we had stumbled upon the night before. I had a delicious calzone, even better than the one I had before! I didn't think that was possible.
At dinner, we met a family traveling from Manhattan and talked with them about their journey in Europe.
On our walk home, as we were passing the Duomo, in the square we heard loud music. Then, all of a sudden, we see a bunch of bikes with balloons on them and people singing along, just riding their bikes. It was a bike parade! The four person bike had a huge speaker on it and was blasting upbeat music (even Micheal Jackson at one point) and everyone behind them were just riding along talking, smiling, and some, drinking beer: just having a grand old time!... As if I hadn't loved the Italians/ Florence enough!
Day 7: I've never loved a city more
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