The Smiths do Florence

We arrived in Florence and it was pouring rain.  Again, we decided to save money on a cab and try our luck at walking to our hotel with all our bags.  After all, Google Maps said it was only a .54 mile walk from the station to the hotel.  Less than a mile?  We could do that!

And we did do it.  But we were soaking wet and so was our luggage.  But we saved money, and that was best of all since Florence has some crazy good shopping!

Here is the view from our hotel room window.

We had about one hour to explore the area around our hotel before we left for our wine tour.

Yep, you read that right, a wine tour in Tuscany.  We were pumped!

Our tour guide was a young twenty-something guy who let us determine our own schedule.  It was rainy and cold so I am pretty sure he felt sorry for us.

But he shouldn't have, because even in the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany is still beautiful!

The first winery we went to was owned by this lady (though you can only see her back) and her husband.  They make and bottler their own wine on their own property.

The more we listened to her talk, the more we came to appreciate the art & science it takes to make wine.

This was their back yard.  Not to shabby, right?

We traveled to another winery, but weren't able to tour the vineyard.  We sat inside and tasted their wine.  Not a bad gig, for sure, but I really would have enjoyed seeing the land.

After the two wineries, our tour guide thought we might get a kick out of meeting "the most famous butcher in the world."  I thought he was kidding, but we said yes and thought we'd just go with it.

We pulled up to this shop and walked in.

There was meat everywhere!! {guess that's b/c it's a butcher shop}

See the freezer door in the back?  It's a freezer full of raw meat.  It was pretty incredible to see, but my stomach was turning a little the entire time.

So we thought that stop was neat.  I mean, a butcher is great and all, but I wasn't so impressed.

Until I got back home and Googled "the most famous butcher in the world" and sure enough, there he was, the man we visited.

Dario Cecchini.

His fame started from the days of mad cow disease.  Remember that?  Well, this man had his hands on the last t-bone steak in the region.  Italians love their t-bone steaks, so he decided to put the steak up for auction.  All the money would be donated tot he children's hospital in Florence. Guess who bought the steak?  Elton John.  For a lot of money.  And so, Dario became famous.  Now he's been on several TV shows, had books written about him and opened restaurants.  But he still works in his butcher shop too.

Interesting, right?

So, at the end of our wine tour, we said goodbye to our lovely guide and asked him for one last suggestion for dinner.  He suggested a place called Il Latini.  We had no clue about the place, but decided we would try it out.

As we turned the corner  to head towards the restaurant, we saw a crowd of people all pushing to get inside.  We thought it was a joke, but alas, it was not.

Chris fought his way tot the front of the line and was sure there was no way we would be seated {since we didn't have reservations} but we did get a seat!

And we were in for an experience.

The restaurant serves dinner at only 2 times - 7 PM and 9PM every day.

There are 5 courses to your meal.

There is no menu.

The waiter rambles off your choices to you {and repeats them several times if you're me}.

You pick your dish.

You eat.

And oh yeah, you sit at a long table with strangers.

Sounds fun, right?

I twas actually our most favorite meal of the entire trip.

The food was delicious and the atmosphere was so typical of Italians - loud and friendly.

Here is a picture of the strangers we met and ate with.

And as we left the restaurant, here is the crowd of people waiting to be seated for the 9:00 dinner.

The next morning, we woke up and it was actually a little sunny outside!

And here is where I get honest with you.  Chris and I love to travel, but we are not neat travelers.  

We walk into a room and destroy it within minutes.

It's not my home, so I don't want to have to clean it.  I'm on vacation and so are my chores.

Here is proof.

But you know what was not on vacation?  Chris's muscles.

He insisted on stretching and doing push-ups in the room.

I laid in bed and watched.  Again, I was on vacation.

Day #2, ready to explore Florence!

Probably the world's most unsafe elevator in our hotel.

It had holes in the floor and only 2 people at a time could fit in it.

The streets of Florence.

The Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence over the Arno River.

This was outside the Uffizzi Gallery.  And you know what?  We didn't go inside {tragedy, I know!}.

But honestly, I was sooooo over all the art and sculpture galleries.

I wanted to see the David in the Academia and that was it.  Why?  Because I really wanted to spend my time in Florence shopping :)!

This was by far Chris's favorite thing to see in Florence.  The Duomo.

It was absolutely amazing.

Stunning, really.

Inside the Duomo.  My pictures are pretty bad, but you can get the main idea.

After exploring Florence a little, we stopped for a bite to eat at at sidewalk cafe.  This was one of my most favorite things about Italy - the Italians love to eat outside!  We took advantage of this every chance we could get!

Do you see the goodness  in the picture above?  That's a Stromboli filled with Nutella and covered in powdered sugar.  My Weight Watchers leader might have a heart attack if she sees that picture.  But oh, it was worth every bite!

After lunch, we headed to the Academia to see the David.  This was one thing that I really was willing to stand in line for.  Except, what really happened was that I made Chris stand in line while I walked around the nearby stores to shop!

Can you see him there in line?

He looks thrilled, right?

Here's the entrance to the Academia.  Maybe because everything else in Italy is so ornate I expected the same thing from the Academia.  But take a look at this grand entrance.  Nothing fancy at all.  Maybe there was another entrance that I didn't see, but I was a little worried that we might be in the wrong place.

But alas, we weren't.  This was the home of the David.  And he was spectacular!!!

Chris and I just stood there, frozen in our steps, and stared.  

It was incredible.

I am now mad at myself because I didn't sneak a picture of David and all his naked glory.  I was too chicken.  But no worries, I did sneak a picture inside of the Sistine Chapel {in my next post}.

Let's just put it this way; the statue of David is something you need to see before you die.

It's a bucket list kinda thing.

Trust me.

After all the sight seeing, I was back to my shopping.  One thing that I had been advised to find in Florence was a nice leather jacket.

Chris was skeptical of my desire, I think he thought I would end up looking lie a motorcycle chick {although, I think I can pull that look off, no?}

We stumbled into a leather store and I found this beauty...

Isn't she grand???

The shop was great enough to tailor the jacket to fit me perfectly and even deliver it to my hotel that evening.

Oh. My. Word.

I LOVE Italy!

Once my shopping was made complete, we headed back to our hotel and enjoyed the terrace there.

It really was a beautiful evening.

We sat and talked about our day, our kids, the future.

I know this seems like a dream, it felt that way.

Italy can do that for you - make you feel like you are living a dream.

We headed to bed that night and the next morning we were off to Rome.

But in typical Smith fashion, we had to stop for a cappuccino first at this great little restaurant.

Think La Madeline but with much better coffee and sandwiches.

Here we are at the train station waiting to go to Rome!

Oh Florence, you were everything we dreamed of!

We are only hoping that Rome will be able to measure up....