Florence, Italy

Saturday morning we took a train up to Florence. Our train by the apartment was 30 minutes late and I knew we would never make it to the city center to catch our transfer train to Florence. Thankfully, the Lord knew our wonderful landlord would help us out because I was told, "Ask Fabio" and we did ... and that wonderful man took us to the metro station so we could make our connection at the city center. I was so incredibly grateful that he was so willing to help us out. He saved our Saturday!!!

Now ... I absolutely loved Florence. I would go back there in a heartbeat. The people were incredibly friendly, the town was gorgeous, the weather was perfect ... it was a nice change from Rome. 

The Duomo, or the Florence Cathedral, or the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, was huge. The outside was incredibly detailed. Across from the Cathedral was the octagon baptistery and next to the cathedral was their bell tower. The inside of the Cathedral was actually pretty plain, weird to me considering the outside had so much design. Maybe they ran out of stem? We climbed up to the top of the dome. There were 463 steps one way. It was a great work out and my little champ didn't complain once. People kept passing him and giving him praise for doing it alone, "You've climbed all these stairs by yourself!? Good job, man!" He's probably in better shape than me though so, it wasn't surprising. 

The stained glass was, and always is, gorgeous. 

Views from the top: 

The dome itself is made out of bricks so when they built it, they feared the bricks would be too heavy and the dome would collapse. So, they actually built two domes, with this hollow space in between, so that it wouldn't collapse! A lot of the stairs are actually in the space so, you're walking in between the bottom dome and the brick dome. 

Back on the ground again. 

This is their bell tower -- you can climb to the top of this, too. I really had no desire...

While we were waiting for my dad, we had some canoli and gelato. 

After the Cathedral we went to find The Statue of David. You're not supposed to take pictures of him either but, I couldn't resist. Everybody does it. (right?) Anyway ... this statue was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I could have sat there all day and just taken it all in. I never thought a statue could move me in the way David did. Kason wanted to hear the story of David so, we pulled up the scriptures on my phone and I read him the story of David and Goliath. Perhaps that is why it was so impactful? My spirit was definitely moved that day sitting there in front of David, reading from the scriptures the great thing he did. The rest of the trip, Kason kept recounting the story of David and talking about how God will help us whenever we ask.

Lesson learned ... mission accomplished.

Thank you, David.

This guy was found on our walk ... how can you pass up a photo opportunity with a giant Lego pirate!? 

Ufizzi square is where a replica of David stands. There is also a Bronze replica in Florence somewhere but ... we never found him. Rats. I kind of wanted to but, oh well.

Another David & Goliath statue: 

My dad wanted to go inside the Ufizzi Museum but, it has a bunch of artwork and I knew Kason wouldn't be able to last 10 minutes in there without complaining of boredom. So, instead we walked across Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge in Florence. When it was first built butcher's occupied all the shops. Now it's filled mostly with jewelry stores. Expensive jewelry stores. But, it was a cute, quaint bridge. I loved the architecture of it. 

That night we ate at this awesome restaurant (Il Porcospino) in Florence, right near the train station. The food was amazing, the waiters were SO friendly and fun, the atmosphere was perfect and the weather even cooperated. Our waiter found out I was from Utah and asked, "You're not Mormon are you?" When I responded, "Actually, I am!" He asked if I was going to vote for Obama or Romney in the upcoming Presidential Election. He said, "Ah ... you will vote for Mitt Romney then, ya? Obama, he is no good! I do not like him. I would vote for Romney, he is a good man!!" It made me laugh & it was kind of fun to talk politics all the way in Italy ... plus, it didn't hurt his tip either!