Tuscany Day Three - Florence

Our final morning in Siena started bright and early.  We planned to drive a little over an hour northeast to Florence for our final day in Tuscany.  While in Siena, we stayed at a renovated castle turned B&B called the Castello Delle Quattro Torra (Castle of four towers).  The owner was very kind and he had three small children nearly the same ages as ours, so he was patient with the noise and commotion at breakfast and other times! 

Here are a few photos of the comfortable, family style breakfast they served each morning. 

This is the room where we ate breakfast.  We would have loved to have more time to relax and enjoy the comfortable living space.   

At the end of breakfast, the owner kindly offered to take us to the top of one of the towers for a panoramic view!  What a treat.  We scaled two narrow, steep circular staircases for a wonderful view, and exciting finale to our stay in Siena.  It was surreal to imagine that people have climed to the top of that tower for more than 700 years!

Here are a few more photos in and around the Castle.

This is the entry way we walked through to get to our apartment.

There were also two friendly cats roaming around.  This grey striped cat kept following us into the apartment and even allowed the children to pet him.   

Below is a view of the castle near where we parked each night. 

As we pulled out heading to Florence, Jason was able to capture this view of the castle.  We would highly recommend this B&B to anyone headed to Tuscany!

Our final stop on our Tuscany tour was Florence.  The city is central hub for Renaissance art with many museums, churches, and piazzas.  However, as previously mentioned, museums are not quite the forte of our little brood, so we decided on our top three sites to see - which included only one museum.  The main sites in Florence are fairly compact and easily walkable.   We arrived at the B&B where we had reservations just before noon and the owner graciously allowed us to check in early.  After hauling our bags up two flights of stairs and parking the car, we set out in the drizzly weather for a walk into the city.

As soon as we walked into the city, we found Cafe Caruso and quickly munched on pizza and pasta to energize ourselves for a day of walking and site seeing. 

The restaurant was fairly empty and they were kind to accomodate us with the stroller!

Our first start on the city tour was the Duomo, the main cathedral in Florence.  Similar to Pisa, there is a cathedral, baptistry and tower.  The facade is extremely ornate and colorful.  It seemed a bit cramped with surrounding buildings and shops.  Construction begain in the 1200's, so I imagine the surroundings were very different at that time!

Here is a photo of the famous ten paneled baptistry doors which depict scenes from the Bible.   

This photo gives a good impression of how large, and empty this cathedral was! 

The dome of the cathedral, pictured here, was an engineering marvel when it was completed in the 1400's when the people of Florence were faced with a 143-foot hole in roof of their Cathedral!

On our walking tour we passed Piazza della Repubblica, and yet another market day.  Later in the evening we stopped by some of the booths in search of souvenirs. 

Next stop...the great gilato heist!  After a few hours of walking and just before our reservations at the museum, we rewarded the kids with gelato.  We popped in a shop fairly close to the Duomo.  When we ordered the attendant asked if we wanted a cup or cone.  Jenna, Ethan, and Jason received cones and Drew had a small cup.  After scooping our order she told me the total...28 Euros - that's nearly $40!  What?!  She conveniently offered us the 7 Euro per cone choice instead of the 3 Euro kid sized cones that I saw posted as we were walking out of the store.  Very sneaky.  Thankfully, the gelato was good and we chalked it up to another lesson learned.

Ethan enjoying his gelato that is apparently laced with gold!

After our gelatlo, we marched our way to Palazzo Vecchio, which is the location of the Uffizi Museum.  That was the one museum we were going to attempt to explore with the children.  This plazza,  near the entrance to the museum, contains a replica of Michelangelo's David statue .

Unfortunately, there were no cameras allowed in the museum, but I am happy to report that overall it was a great experience.  The museum was louder and more spacious than the others we have attempted.  Also, we were able to view centuries old, stunning renaissance art and tactfully explain to our children why nearly every painting and sculpture had people sporting their "birthday suits"!  There were far less giggles than I had expected, which was a pleasant surprise.

After our better than expected museum tour, we walked for a few minutes to enjoy watching the city light up for the evening. 

Here, the children and I are scouring a small shop in search of the every illusive perfect souvenir.

Below, the Duomo is pictured on the right closed in by many shops and buildings. 

The two pictures below show Ponte Vecchio.  It is a famous bridge built to cross the Arno river into Florence.  The bridge is lined with business, mostly gold and jewelry shops.  Of course it is a huge tourist trap, but it was beautiful with the evening lights.

This is a view on the bridge with all of the shops and tourists!

Stunning evening shot of the Arno river in Florence. 

After three whirlwind days in Tuscany, we decided to pick up the makings for a hotel picnic.  We munched on sandwiches, chips and fruit on the floor, while attempting to repack for the trip back to Belgium the following morning. 

By 9:30 p.m., we had our bags packed and kids in bed, so Jason and I enjoyed a few quiet minutes in the lounge area at the B&B.  We stayed at La Terrazza Su Boboli and would highly recommend it.  The B&B is located at a 15 minute walk to the city center, the owner was gracious and accomodating, and the room was a great size for the 5 of us. 

Alas, the morning of our return to Brussels arrived all too quickly.  Jenna, who is never an easy one to rouse, was gently prodded by her brother to get ready for breakfast!

I think we all enjoyed our stay in Tuscany, and we would love to return for an extended time befor we are back in NC.  The food was great, the scenery was gorgeous, and the people were warm and welcoming.  We are slowly working out the "challenges" presented by traveling with young children and enjoying each trip more and more.  Ciao!