Train Ride To Florence

We were supposed to go to Rome, but we decided 8 hours of train ride to see the Colliseum just was NOT a good idea.  As it was it was SO hot, we didn’t spend much time in Florence either. 

Seth and daddy waiting for our train to come.  Someone might be a little bit excited about riding a real train!


Courtney and Emily

Garret and then Tyler….(he was wishing I’d leave him alone….


And on our way…..



Normally when we get to a destination,  I take a picture of the city sigh….didn’t see a single one.  LOL.  Florence is Firenze in Italian (just in case you also didn’t know this).
Since we hadn’t planned on going to Firenze, I didn’t have an intinerary or any idea WHAT we wanted to see.  I knew that the Statue of David but we didn’t make it to where it’s located.  At any rate, we did more walking around and looking than going into places as visiting these beautiful buildings were pricey…and we were saving money for what we wanted to do in Pisa. 
Below is a picture of Chiaza di S. Maria Novella.  We didn’t go into this one. 


Chiesa di San Lorenzo

Picture of a miscellaneous buidling. 

Another view of Chiesa di San Lorenzo.


This is the Cloister of San Lorenzo.   There was an orange tree in the center of the garden.




I love the architecture of old buildings and enjoy taking photos of details (in case you haven’t noticed from my other posts in our wanderings while in Germany). Above each arched entryway was this neat little…dunno what you call it…ROTF…I just liked them and they were different.  One the kids thought looked like a slice of pizza.  You can see the circle above the center arch in this picture.










Entrance to the library….

Close up of the sign-the part written in English.

After this we went wandering a bit before deciding to go see the Piazza Del Duomo. 




More pictures of the Cathedral….this building is phenomenally gorgeous. 











The shorter, domed building in the below picture is the Baptistery.  You’ve seen my LO of the Baptistery at Leaning Tower of Pisa.  (ooops…I almost called it the Leaning Tower of PIZZA because we’ve been teasing Seth about it being called that…he’s taken great pride in correcting each of us).








And some pictures of the buildings and streets around the Cathedral. 



Firenze is a beautiful city.  I wish we hadn’t gone during peak tourist season AND when it wasn’t so HOT.  I would have loved to spend a few more days walking around and catching ALL the sites we missed.  Firenze wasn’t dirty like Pisa (the sewage smell was worse…and I try to keep in mind that I have a terribly sensitive nose) My mom needs to come visit so we can go back together…wouldn’t that be FUN, mom????
My next blog post will show the interior of the Cathedral, but for now I need to start packing for my trip to see Missus Wookie.  (ducking…I haven’t packed ANYTHING).