Florence

I have really wanted to go to Florence before we leave Italy so, RT and I decided to take a trip down there last Thursday. There were several things about this trip that made it interesting. For one, this was the first time that we have taken a train since we have lived in Europe. I know that sounds crazy because the train is one of the most used modes of transportation here in Italy. This just happened to be the first time that I have ever actually ridden a train at all in my life. (Exclude the one that goes around Stone Mountain). It was also the first time on a train for RT and of course Emily too. This was quite the experience. Emily was SO excited that she was going to get to ride. Well, when we got to the train station she got a little scared at all the real life noises that the trains make. RT had to comfort her. However, once we got on the train and started moving, she was such a champ about it. Second, we didn't realize that we had booked the trip on an Italian holiday simply because, well Italians have a holiday about once every three days. I mean really! They have more "holidays" than any other country in the world. We only planned to be in Florence for one night and two days. The "holiday" kind of messed some things up for us because some places were closed on Friday. Third, we decided to try a different route than a standard hotel. We went for a hostel. Also a "first" for RT and myself. Interesting experience. We did get the private room so we were not actually sharing with strangers in true hostel fashion! It was a fun trip and a neat experience. We took about 100 pictures so I am going to try and choose some of the better ones. Here goes...

This is at the start of the trip. Emily and Daddy are patiently waiting for our train to arrive at the station.

It is about this time that Emily hears all the crazy screeching and crunching noises that the trains make when they come into the station. She was saying "I'm scared, I'm scared". So, then RT kicked into "daddy mode" and had to explain that he would never let anything hurt her and that she was safe with him. Too cute!

And all is well. We are on the train and on our way! Emily was having a good time looking at all the sights out the window.

Me and Emily outside of our Hostel.
Lighting candles in the Cathedral.


This was a museum that we stumbled across. We both wanted to go through the museum but did not want to take Emily in there. It is an entire museum dedicated to serial killers. We talked to the guy that worked the front desk about it and it sounded so interesting. I just thought it was unusual and thought I would share.
I know that this is vulgar but it is typical Italian sentiment. You see these kinds of things painted on walls and bridges in a lot of places. Most of the time it is not this hateful but you get the idea...
View of the square.


Ponte Vecchio. This is the famous bridge in Florence. It was so hot and we had been doing so much walking at this point in the day.

This is one of my favorites! The wind was blowing and Emily's hair was everywhere. I love the look on her face too.
This is such a pretty shot from the bridge. RT took this picture at such a good time in the evening.
They had a merry-go-round in town and Emily got so excited when she saw it. This is the two of us riding on it.
Getting a piggy back ride from Daddy.
The most famous thing to see in Florence is Michelangelo's statue of David. You have to go inside an actual museum to see him. Of course we did this and we saw him in person. He is massive and it is so amazing to see in person. It really was something I will always remember. You cannot take pictures inside of the museum so that is why I do not have pictures of the original statue. They do have an exact replica of him in a courtyard and this is the picture of the replica. I wish I could let you see the real one but this is the best we could do picture wise.
There were police in the courtyard as well and they had horses. Emily adores horses so RT took her to look at them up close. She was so excited that she got to pet one of them.

This is all three of us in front of a huge fountain. This fountain is dedicated to the "god of the sea" and has been here for hundreds of years. It is really an interesting fountain up close. There are a lot of details and peculiar creatures.
Here is Emily at the train station just before we left to come home. She was posing in front of one of the trains. She wasn't scared of them this time.
We are finally on our way back to Vicenza. Emily stayed awake for about 20 minutes and then crashed pretty much the whole ride back.