This map is pretty accurate, except for the extra loop back and forth to Porta Romana. Not sure how Google Timeline gathers data sometimes!!!
Now it’s my turn to feel a cold coming on (hurts to swallow). I think at this point I can just sleep it off tonight so when I am done with this, it’s Nyquil and bed!
We were supposed to go to Lucca today, but we were thwarted by the fact that they are working on the train line so we stayed in Florence - if we wanted to go, it would have meant 3 busses, no thanks! It took us a while to reprogram our minds to the idea that we were staying in town today, so we started the day in a fog. Plus, since it’s Sunday, some sights were closed and that's one of the reasons we had planned a day trip today!
Once we regrouped, we toured the Palazzo Vecchio. We lucked out - there were no line ups at the ticket counter, and once we were done and reached the Tower Climb there were maybe 20 people in line. By the time we got back down, it had tripled in length and when we left the museum the line up at the ticket counter was snaking out the door.
The palace/museum was very nice, we enjoyed the visit very much.
The Maps Room impresses me the most but it was hard to take good pictures of the maps because of the reflections on the glass.
The tower was “only” a 223 step climb which is only hard after a week of being a food-slob and not touching a vegetable in days. It’s amazing how one’s body can degraded so quickly!
The views over Florence from up there were great.
Best of all was a visit of the archeological site under the palace. It was fascinating to learn about the stadium under our feet upon which the palace was built! The rocks on the floor part was just alright, it was the educational video that had me transfixed.
After our visit, it was time to sit back and relax with a drink in the piazza facing the palace.
We strolled over to the other side of the Arno and stopped for lunch
(I think the cheese in my sandwich looks a bit like onions in this picture!)
Then we walked onwards to see the Porta Romana that we missed on Friday because the sun was too strong!
The rest of the afternoon was just wandering the streets, zig zagging thought neighbourhood with no plan and no itinerary to follow. We stopped for drinks, relaxed along the river, lit candles in a church… a little bit of everything and lot of nothing.
I joke with Frank that he's never looked better in this picture! LOLOLOLOL
We decide to eat dinner around 5 because I want to go to bed as early as possible and kill this maybe-cold. It was great! Because we were so early, we snagged a great table with a full view of the Piazza della Republica and lounged there with a bottle of wine and a lazy meal. One of the best of the trip.
It’s a little after 8PM now, time to say good night!
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