Florence, Italy

Michaelangelo Piazza everyoneMichaelangelo Piazza view

4We drove to Florence and parked at the Piazzale Michelangelo – a hilltop parking lot with a great view of Florence. This was Chris and I’s second time to Florence this year!  We went with Chris’ sisters in May and we climbed up to this square for the view.  Nikole and I found an artist that we liked and both bought small watercolor paintings.  When we parked here this time I was hoping he’d be set up here again and he WAS!  I was excited to look at his stuff again.  Shelley bought some artwork for herself and friends and then she bought me a big piece for my birthday.  It’s a beautiful picture of Florence, the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the Arno River.  I love it –thank you!  (It’s getting framed right now.)   Once we got our purchases all rolled up we put them back in the van and continued on with our day with smiles on our faces.

print Lisa and artist

We wandered down into the streets of Florence and over the Ponte Vecchio Bridge – Florence’s most famous and picturesque bridge -- lined on both sides with mostly jewelry shops.

Bridge views2

Chris and the kids on the bridge…Bridge views3

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson…Bridge night G&GBridge family

Bridge views6

View from the bridge back up to the Piazza Michelangelo on the top of the hill in the distance…Bridge night viewBridge views4  Bridge views Bridge views5Bridge views7

It was fun just wandering around Florence.  It’s a cool city.  At the Piazza Signoria right by the Uffizi Gallery, Chris made all the kids pick their favorite statue.

Square group

Ryan censoring a copy of the David outside the Palazzo della Signoria – the Town Hall.

Square Ryan

I took pictures of my silly ‘strapped in’ boys while the girls were off picking favorite statues…

Square Luke Square silly LukeSquare Matthew2Luke thumbs up Square Matthew

Square group2Square Ryan Chris Other Church Meg Walking

Florence’s DuomoDuomo

We had GROM gelato, wandered over to the Duomo to check it out, and continued on to the Accademia for G&G, Chris, Ryan, Katie and Emily to go see the David and other Michelangelo works of art.  Meanwhile, Megan, Luke, Matthew and I wandered over to the outdoor leather markets near the San Lorenzo Church.  Megan and I had fun looking at purses and ended up buying two Italian ties for Ryan for Megan’s Christmas present to him.  She picked them out and was so excited!  After shopping we wandered back to the steps of the San Lorenzo and fed pringle chips to the Pigeons.  Chris and the crew met us there and then off we went to a late lunch/early dinner.

Other Church Ryan Katie Other Church Other Church Ryan

Back over the bridge…Bridge night view2

We were pretty excited to be eating at Trattoria 4 Leoni again.  We LOVED our food there before and were anxious to have it again.  We had bruschetta, avocado pine nut salad, pear stuffed fiocchetti and cheesecake.  Everything was so good and the problem was… all the kids liked everything too so it went fast.  We were rationing each bite. 

Restaurant

After dinner we headed back up to the top of the hill where we parked, and then drove back to the villa.  Because it got dark about 5:00pm on these November nights, we were back home to the villa pretty early and had the rest of the evening to play games. Lots of Dominion with Ryan and Grandpa and a few games of Settlers.   It was perfect!

Dark view

Dark view 4Dark view 2

LisaFamily visiting, Florence, Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, Italy, TuscanyComment