F L O R E N C E , italy

We didn't see David.
I just had to get that out right away.
We should have stopped to see him, but we are ok that we didn't. Next trip.

There are those who travel here and have every minute mapped out. They have the need to check every single country and sight off the list. I admire what they are able to accomplish and see.

There are those who do not leave the base, have never driven the Autobahn and eating out is BK. Seriously. There are lots of them. I know- it sounds unbelievable. A shame.

I like think we fit somewhere in the middle.

We love to travel. We love to check countries and sights off our list. The boys are fairly easy to travel with as well. Easy as long as we don't go too crazy.

I have to remind myself that doing too much in a trip really can take the fun out of it for them. If they're not happy, we're really not too happy either.

Florence was one of those cities that I did not push on them.

We gave them the option to check out Florence with the adults, or stay at the villa and swim.

Ty took one for the team and stayed home with the littles.

They were happy. We were happy.

So- Justin, Ashten, Scott, Jazz, Jim and I headed out for an afternoon in Florence.

On my itinerary of our week in Tuscany, I had several day trips outlined. I like to have options. There were more things to see and do in a two-hour radius of our house than anyone can possibly do in a week's time or even a month's time.

Florence was a quick 45-minute drive from our villa making for an easy day trip.

Our greatest challenge with Florence was finding the parking garage. In researching, I was told to park underground at the train station. It was secure and easy to walk from there to see everything.

* click on photo to enlarge

We had it in the GPS but for some reason with six {6} of us looking we passed the entrance to the underground parking garage at least five times {maybe 10 times} before we finally spotted it.

Looking at this picture, it is still difficult for me to see where you drive under.

You can see the blue P signs, but the ramp going down was a little tricky for us.

In that space of time we drove in circles looking for the parking garage, we managed to drive the wrong way down road and were told we couldn't park in a spot because it was a blue spot {or wasn't a blue spot- can't remember now}.

It was more than a little stressful.

We also managed to keep calm and laugh along the way in this major city with crazy drivers.
Again, Jim's driving skills were at their finest- he is really incredible especially under pressure.

Florence is magnificent.
Florence is artsy.
Florence is old.

After parking and getting some food, we walked the short distance to the Dom, or Cathedral. As we turned the corner and saw the square- I could not get over how massive and huge and colorful the buildings were.

Oh, and the white, pink and green Tuscan marble. I loved the marble.

In spite of not being our first large city, it was still jaw-dropping and extremely impressive. With each large cathedral we have visited {Cologne, Carcassone, Notre Dame, Strassbourg...}, the feeling is the same while each has been so different.

They are extremely impressive especially considering the time frame in which they were built.

The dome of Florence's Duomo {Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore} was completed in 1436. The cathedral is Europe's fourth largest church and the city's tallest building.

The Baptistry is famous for the bronze doors and is one of the oldest buildings dating back to the 4th century. Each panel shows a scripture through pictures.

We tried to go through the Cathedral but were turned away because we were wearing shorts. Oops.
They weren't even short shorts, but rules are rules. Instead of purchasing the paper smock-like article that allows you to pass security into the church, we took a couple pictures in the entrance and headed back outside.

From here, we split up going different directions with a time to meet back up.

Justin, Ashten, Jim and I were excited to go up the Tower {Campanile di Giotto} next to the Dom. Jazz and Scott checked out the rest of the city.

The view from the top definitely made the climb worth every one of the almost 500 steps.

With a super narrow winding staircase, it was nice to have several landing look-out landing spots to take a break and take in the view.

With our fear of heights, both Ashten and I thought we were incredibly brave walking across this metal grate looking all the way down. Jim and Justin {along with the other people taking a break} probably thought we were crazy.

Even knowing it was secure and we weren't going to fall through, it was scary!

On to the top- it was nothing shy of astounding.

The view of the Cathedral along with everything else within the these hills of Tuscany was beyond impressive.

Love. Love. Love.