Firenze... or Florence, Italy

Just for Little Man

This one is for our Little Man.  He loves Luigi from Cars, the movie,  for those of you who are not 'in' on the current crazes of the youngest generation.  Pop Pop made tons of photos of the tiny cars in Italy, not only for Little Man, but because he was most amused by them himself.  ;)  Some of them made the Smart Car look like a luxury sedan.  They were soooo tiny.  I'm just sayin'.  They and the mopeds moved in swarms, with not so many rules of the road-- at least not that we could discern. 

La Loggia

By the afternoon most of these photos were made, we were saturated with art, museums, crowds and looking up.  Everything was so big! And, so tall!  Our necks were not all that pleased.  We did discuss the merits of having stretchers to push us older-necks around so we could view the ceilings and exspanses without pain.  LOL!  Just a discussion! Even after all that whining, don't miss the Galleria degli Uffizi or the Galleria dell' Accedemia.  I just don't have the words.

Replica of Michelangelo's David (original located in the Galleria dell' Academia, no photos.  A must see.)

As we walked and walked away from town, my better half who is always dismayed with my desire to hike in what seems to him like endless directions asks, "Where are we going?"  This is a common discussion between us on vacations.  I rather emphatically replied, "It doesn't matter!  We are moving away from crowds; it is beautiful; I am happy; aren't you happy?  It doesn't matter!  But, I did see something to do with Michelangelo on the map."  He acquiesces.  We hike on.  More on that later.

Duomo-- Cathedral of Santa Maria del Flore

I am so glad we had had it with the crowds.  This is the view (zoomed!) from Piazzale Michelangiolo (Tuscan spelling of Michelangelo).  Oh, my goodness!  This ended up being one of my favorite things in Fierenze.   The Piazzale with this amazing panoramic view is dedicated to Michelangelo.  La Loggia (photo earlier) was originally planned to be a museum to house all of Michelangelo's great works located in Florence.  That did not happen and now it is a beautiful restaurant where we enjoyed a Bellini, or was it two...  and the view, did I mention it was amazing?.  Ahhhh... perfect recovery for touring overload.

Bridges of Florence

The biggest bridge you can see in this photo is Ponte Vecchio and is the home of some serious upscale shopping (not my thing).  We crossed it on our way to the Piazzale Michelangiolo.  It is the "old bridge."

This view is just to the left of the previous one.  I love these walls and the trees and the beautiful structures on the hillsides.  I'm not sure if they are homes or not, but I imagined them so.

Part of the stairs to Piazzale Michelangiolo

Designed this way to accommodate horses!

It was along about here that my beloved questioned (as in, tried halt our moving further away) me as to where we were going.  This is only a glimpse of the climb.  It was quite a cardio workout!  Evan will admit that he was excited to note, as we came down, that there were much younger people on their way up breathing a bit hard, too.  ;)

One day...

I'll leave you with one more Italian street scene.  I hope, that a few more years down the road, Evan and I will be still be enjoying each other's company and wandering along... in just this way. 

If you go to Florence, do not leave without feasting at Acqua al 2 (Due).  Amazing.  Our daughter had told us their meal there had been their trip favorite a few years ago.  She did not mislead us.  I second that opinion.  I learned that they have one restaurant on each coast here, in San Francisco and D. C..  I do not know if those are as good, but I'm going to give them a try as soon as I have an opportunity. 

Sorry this is so long.  My last purging of memories of Italy!  ;)

Blessings ~ tanna

Linking with Sandi's Traveling Tuesdays at the Whistlestop Cafe.

And, Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style.