Spring Break - Florence:

Trains and more coloring!

After three fun-filled days in the city with no streets, we hopped on a high-speed train and headed for Florence. I had read that Florence isn't the best suited of the options in Italy for kids, however Russ and I really wanted to see Tuscany. So in an attempt to satisfy all interested parties, we opted to for a hotel off the beaten path that had a heated swimming pool, designed to persuade our travel companions into doing some boring "adult activities". We have reminded the girls on more than one (or 88) occasion, that everything we do doesn't revolve around them; that our daily purpose is not to fulfill their every whim, dream, and want.

Loralye and David!

I think this trip, we were able to demonstrate that concept a bit more and we all got to do somethings we wanted and tried not to complain too much while doing the things the other parties wanted (except for the whole first day in Florence...Once we arrived at the hotel, the girls had their hearts set on swimming!!! Sadly, because we arrived quite early our room wasn't ready, so we had to find somewhere to spend the afternoon. The hotel shuttle popped us into the heart of Florence and we began exploring. Quickly we found many of the infamous statues and wasted no times taking funny pictures with them. Ahead of the trip, one of the books we read had a picture of 'the David' along with the Duomo on the front. Of course Loralye wasted no time in pointing out the "man with the funny penis". So can you imagine her reaction when she spotted the real "David" standing 17ft tall. Once again, so glad we are in a country where most don't speak English!! The better part is when she saw the Duomo in person, she also recognized that building from the book. This gave me some reassurance that we aren't developing a complex (but only temporarily... penis questions resume later in the Vatican Museums of all places!)

David slaying Medusa... yep, that's her head. Good history lessons around every corner, with surprisingly no nightmares!

Without an agenda and needing something to do to fill the time until we could swim ("How much longer until our room is ready?" "Do you think they will clean it faster since they know we are here?" "Do you think they have another bathroom we could change in?" "What time are we going back?" I headed to the only place I thought we could go as a last resort - The Uffizi Gallery.

Annelyse was super excited for the Uffizi... can't you tell??

Street artists working in chalk... the detail was crazy! Annelyse kept asking what would happen when it rained... so disappointing to think about all that hard work just washed away.

The Uffizi Gallery is an art-lovers dream come true! That being said, we aren't art lovers (or even likers for that matter), but seeing that this place is world-renowned for the works within by the great Italian artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello, I figured we all would take something away from the experience... boy was I wrong. Of all the crappy things I have made these kids do, this one took the cake. They weren't having any of it. From the moment we got there, until the second where they ran out the doors screaming, "we're freeeeeeeee!!!!!!"

We bought a few minutes trying the posing game again but it wasn't nearly as fun as it was in Venice...
Lo was also too busy trying to decide if that is another "David"...

Ognissanti Madonna by Giotto circa 1310 = Not cool

Birth of Venus - Botticelli - And the back of Annelyse's head... she really despised this place!

Loralye bouncing

Outside of the museum... girls favorite view :) The Piazza della Signoria

This place was utter torture. Russ and I alone probably wouldn't have lasted in there more than 2 hours, however with all the whining, complaining, feet-dragging, pretend crying, leg cramping, bathroom needing, starvation campaigning (mind you they filled their faces with pizza before entering) I felt like the head of Medusa after being slayed by Perseus... Kids 1 - Parents - 0 Well played little ladies, well played.

We opted to walk home instead of taking the shuttle bus because Russ is still going strong on his health kick and we all could use some exercise, right?? In theory, this was a great idea, except for the fact that Google doesn't know jack about the streets in Florence. Now, that being said, it is completely our fault that we blindly use this typically, wonderfully reliable service daily. What we thought would be about a 1.5-2 mile walk, turned out to be closer to 4.

Quickly the legs became weak and the chorus of whines began right on cue. How Russ and I both lost weight while in Italy while eating pasta and pizza for every meal was thanks to the girls and those tired feet.... Kids 2 - Parents -0.

A standard pose that we try to get at hotels... they weren't feeling it today :(

Finally, back at the hotel with all ailments miraculously subsiding, we headed to the pool, HALLELUJAH!!! The girls were in heaven and would have stayed there forever. I am sure the little robes and matching slippers they provided for them along with balloons on the bed, nightly sweet treats delicately wrapped and rose scented bubble bath didn't hurt either. After a nice long refreshing swim, we opted for dinner pool-side.

Little robes and slippers for the kiddo's! No wonder they didn't want to leave. Annelyse has recreated the "Villa Cora" out of lego's since we have returned home. This place definitely left an impression!

Interviewing the guy folding towels by the pool...

Now, typically I don't type about meals, because they are unremarkable to negative at best... but tonight, tonight was different. Both girls wanted the hamburger (what they ALWAYS get) so I ordered one and planned to have them split it (because they never eat it) I am not sure if it was all the walking and swimming or the fact that this meat tasted like a filet ground up into delicious morsels, but these girls devoured dinner. Then they asked for another... and ate the entire thing. Now, mind you, these were full size (fit for an adult) hamburgers. We could not believe the amount of food they had consumed.

Also during dinner, the girls were writing questions in Italian to the waiter using Google translate and passing the folded up pieces of paper to him. He was kind enough to write responses to all their questions and pass the notes back as he came back to the table to check on us.

Name: Adrian

Age:26

Favorite Color: Blue

To end the evening we headed up to the rooftop terrace to watch the sunset. The girls were shocked by how quickly the sun disappeared.

Sunset views from the rooftop with their favorite guy!

It doesn't get much sweeter!

The next day we planned a bus tour to the towns of Pisa and Lucca. We hoped on the tour bus and headed through the Tuscan countryside to the first stop Pisa! After a tour of the Piazza dei Miracoli we strolled over to the Leaning Tower of Pisa! The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Seeing that they only allow 40 people to climb the tour at a time, I figured they still believed there was some risk to the structures collapse. So we opted to spend our time trying to get the perfect picture of us trying to push the tower over.

Ceiling was all gold... needless to say lots of security inside here!

Ugh... MOM... she is squeezing me SO SUPER HARD!!!

It's so heavy!

Our armature photographers are pretty great to have around!

Keeping entertained on the bus

After Pisa, we were on our way to Lucca. Lucca is a walled-city. That's about all we learned here...

Once the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade.

Views from the bus... we think those are the Dolomite Mountains in the background.

So happy to be off the bus and free to run around... Lucca wall in the background

Selfie in our robes before an evening swim!

No evening would be complete without another dip in the pool and another delectable hamburger. The girls got a big kick out of the underwater camera and took hundreds of pictures.

Pretty much sums up this little lady perfectly...

Our last day in Florence had no agenda, other than to try to see some of the main historical sights (again, only from the outside). One of our first stops was the Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge) which is a Medieval stone arch bridge over the Arno River, noted for still having shops built along it. They say butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. I haven't seen that much gold in one place in a long time!!

See big sister putting sinister ideas in little sisters head.

On the Ponte Vecchio Bridge...

After the bridge we headed over to The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore or as we call it, the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers which is the main church in Florence. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 and was completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered. The exterior of the basilica is faced with marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white details. It almost looked like it was made of candy!

In front of the Duomo... The building with the big red dome was nice to find, seeing that we had read about it before the trip!

After a nice, brief tour of the city, we opted for some gelato, a carousal ride and a leisurely stroll back to the hotel.

Walking is so much easier with ice cream in hand!

Carousel rides to keep the spirits up!

Our stroll home happened to take us through the Boboli Gardens. The Boboli Gardens are home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities. Not to mention lots of long, winding paths that are great for burning off some energy!

Shrub mazes for days...

Right after we took this picture, I told them the guy above them almost peed on their heads... insert, INSANE laughter!

Once again, they had enough of us telling them to pose like the statues and gave us a taste of our own medicine!

Run Forest, Run!

We were quite impressed with this impersonation!

Russ was not amused by my posing request... mostly because he was attempting to strike a pose just before this, however the girls took off running and ducked into a hedge and we thought we lost them for a minute. Needless to say, no one was happy here.