Florence was such a vibrant city just brimming with history. Amazing museums, beautiful Tuscan architecture and such amazing food. Lisa assigned the kids homework: a list of landmarks across the city they had to check off during our time in town. Once completed, we agreed on a triple scoop of gelato, a welcome treat in the heat. Florence is generally recognized as the birthplace of gelato, so it seemed a fitting reward for traipsing through the city with us for a few days. And not just any gelato: we hunted down My Sugar, a gelato store that has won the annual Florence gelato competition multiple times. I can say it was exceptionally delicious!
The trip to Florence from Cinque Terre necessitated four different trains (three changes), but it went quite quickly as all but the first of the trains was only about an hour (the first train was three minutes from Riva Trigoso to Sestri Levante). Our train from Sestri Levante to La Spezia was 10 minutes late, which allowed us around 90 seconds to get between trains in La Spezia. Granny Jenni can stop worrying about Lilia carrying such a heavy backpack: Lilia moved like an Olympic sprinter between the platforms, the four of us jumping on the train to Pisa just as the doors were closing. We looked behind us through the train windows to see scores of travelers shaking their fists and yelling at the train as it was rolling out of the station. Max needed to take some deep breaths once on the train, as the prospect of being left behind anywhere puts the fear of God into him. Good times.
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The alleyways amongst the centuries-old buildings of old Florence were full of so much character, lined with countless restaurants, cafes and bars and always hopping with activity. The leather goods around the city’s central marketplace were a testament to Florence’s history of being a source of fine Italian leather bags and clothing (although these days all the leather stores are run by Indians instead of Italians). The smell of leather constantly permeated a lot of the streets in the city’s western flank as we strolled.
The Duomo – otherwise known as Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore – was quite an awe-inspiring sight: the size of the church was astonishing, as was the intricacy of the artwork and carvings on the exterior. I’ve never seen anything like it. The plazas and palaces dotting the city center were all very impressive as well, fun to see a replica of Michelangelo’s David outside Palazzo Vecchio. Just so much history! It was an interesting history lesson for the kids to take a stroll over the Arno River on Ponte alle Grazie, the bridge originally home to many of the city’s original tanneries but these days the center of Florence’s jewelry district (the Florentines pushed out the tanneries due to their smell!).
In addition to the architecture and history, our time in Florence was a wonderful journey through the tastes and smells of Tuscany. We ate one night at the small, family-run Trattoria Sabatino, where mains ran 6-8€ and half a liter of wine was 4€. Surprisingly, the white beans in olive oil beat out all the other delectable dishes – chicken stuffed with beef, Tuscan beef stew, spaghetti with ragu – when we ranked them afterwards with full stomachs. S.forno was also a notable stop for lunch, offering exceptional baked goods and sandwiches with a Tuscan flare. My mushroom quiche was without question one of the best quiches I’ve ever devoured. I think it’d be possible to spend a year in Florence and dine at a different place for every meal without exhausting the city’s range of excellent eateries.
Lisa also mixed in a few kid-specific adventures in Florence for the youngens. They both enjoyed a visit to Bartolucci in the old town, the store an amazing example of wood craftsmanship modeled after the fairytale of Pinocchio and woodworker Geppetto. There were a couple of full-sized wooden motorcycles in the store that boggled the mind with everything from suspension to brake levers fashioned 100% out of wood. The Boboli Gardens was also a nice place to escape the heat one afternoon, not a patch on the exquisite Luxembourg Gardens in Paris but a beautiful location for a stroll nonetheless. It was also a good spot from which to view Florence’s old town. At the top of the kids’ list of favorites in Florence, though, was the Leonardo Interactive Museum: a collection of scores of replicas of Leonardo da Vinci’s mechanical inventions, all hands-on for the kids to explore and enjoy. We spent a couple of hours there building and dissecting Leonardo’s inventions. Wild Man’s cogs were definitely churning after his visit, so much so that he bought himself a small, leather-bound notebook for his own creations. The Leonardo Interactive Museum is a must do with kids if you ever find yourself in Florence.
It was forecast to be 37°C/99°F on one of our days in Florence, so instead of braving the heat amongst the stone walls of the city we hopped on the train to the coast to spend the day in Castiglioncello. The beachside retreat is a haven for Italian holidaymakers in the summer, Baia del Quercetano was a short stroll from the train station and a fabulous spot to spend the heat of the day. Lisa and I didn’t know where to look whilst lounging on the sand – it was like a hardbody swimsuit catalogue on the beach – but we were content enjoying the sights while the kids were in heaven snorkeling amongst the rocks and reef lining the edge of the bay. Freshly-baked focaccia and local stone fruit on the beach for lunch, doesn’t get much better!
On our way home from Castiglioncello we hopped off the train in Pisa for a quick look at the famous tower. It was well worth the stop, the intricacy of the exterior of Cattedrale di Pisa was amazing and it was fun taking a few shots of the kids hamming it up in front of Torre di Pisa. My boy it was hot, though! We were all glad we spent the bulk of the day out at the beach…
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