We left on Wednesday and drove part of the way. It is about a six and a half hour drive from Geneva to Florence, so we thought breaking it up might be a good idea. We stayed in a beautiful little town, Hone, Italy.
On Thursday, we arrived in Florence and stayed in an apartment right in the heart of the city. The girls were very eager to meet up with their friends, Mary Elizabeth, Rose, and Cecilia. We walked around the city, with our first stop being a gelato shop.
Happy girl!
Standing on the bridge over the Arno River-
The most well known site in Florence is the Florence Cathedral, which is also called, The Duomo. They began building the cathedral in 1296 and it was completed in 1436. It is still the largest dome in the world made of brick and mortar. It was HUGE. We were lucky enough to stay in an apartment that was basically 20 feet from the cathedral, so we were able to admire its beauty in both the daytime and nighttime.
In front of The Duomo
View from our room-
On Friday, we spent the day once again walking around Florence. It is a large city with many different piazzas and monuments. There are also tons of markets selling a lot of leather goods!
The girls with their new leather animal wristlets-
The girls in front of the replica of Michelangelo's David-
The original was moved to the Galleria dell'Accademia, which had a long line,
so we settled for the replica!
Friday afternoon, we were very excited to do a cooking class with the kids. It was a pizza and gelato class, which seemed perfect for our crew! We had a wonderful time making pizza from scratch and learning about how gelato is made. Once we were done with the cooking part, we were able to enjoy our food! It was a memorable night- the girls had a great time!
Very intense pizza dough making going on...
Junior Chefs
Saturday, we decided to leave the city and explore the villages around Florence. We first went to Chianti and discovered a very old village on the hill with beautiful views, but not much more. From there, we took a scenic drive through the countryside and drove to San Gimignano, which is an Italian medieval town in Tuscany. We loved this town. It is an enclosed town with stone walls, filled with restaurants, shops selling goods unique to the region, and amazing architecture. One other reason we wanted to visit San Gigignano was because of an award-winning gelato parlour, Gelateria Dodoli. I never thought I could tell the difference, but this gelato was amazing!
San Gimignano is also known for its skyline. It sits on a hill and has about a dozen tower houses. The girls and the dads were lucky to get to visit the Salvucci Tower. The tower was originally built as a defense between the eleventh and twelfth century to guard against the enemy. Since then, they have created living floors inside the tower to allow visitors to tour the tower with the opportunity to actually stay over in the tower. The girls were convinced they were in Rapunzel's castle.
Salvucci Tower
Streets of San Gimignano
Our friend, Chris, ordered the Florence steak-which is the most famous main course in Tuscany.
In order for it to be a true Florence steak, the meat must come from a Chianina cow, a breed of cattle raised in Tuscany. The steak must weigh over a kilo (2.2 lbs.) and the meat is only cooked rare-
On Sunday, we had to drive back, so we left early and said good-bye to Florence.
