Firenze and my friend, David

Michelangelo's David

With a heavy heart, we left our family in Tezze sul Brenta (Bassano) and travelled by train to this beautiful old city - Florence or Firenze to meet with my best Italian friend, David!  What an experience to be able to take my nephew to the Galleria d'Accademia to view the most beautiful sculpture in the world (in my opinion).  It brought me back to 1978 when I first saw the statue in the same place.  At that time I was overwhelmed by excitement and remember very moist eyes.  I had read about this magnificent city and statue but never thought I would ever see it and yet here I was!

On our first full day here we took a tour of the city including the Accademia, the Duomo and the Piazza Vecchio.  We also walked across the Ponte Vecchio and took in the magnificence of the Arne River and all that the Medici family and others had done to make this the city what it is.




On our second day, we were brave (or at least I was) and took a Vespa tour of Tuscany.  With DJ as the driver, we zipped through the hills of Tuscany surrounding the city.  We stopped high above the city for a photo opportunity, drove by the last home of Galileo (who was basically under house arrest by the Pope for declaring that the world was round, rather than flat).  We drove through grape vineyards and fields of olive trees and ended the trip at a quaint little restaurant on the outskirts of the city.  There we had the best bruschetta, pasta and roast beef and really good white wine.   I arrived back at the apartment safe and sound and sleepy.  We also met a charming couple from New Zealand named Mack and Mary.  That was a terrific addition to the day.

Ponte Vecchio - bridge of gold jewelry

DJ sitting high above Firenze

Outside our apartment in Firenze