Semana Santa: Florence

One of the best parts of the year is when we have an extended break and get to spend more than just a weekend in the places we choose to visit. Semana Santa (the week before Easter) is our Spring break, so the list of places we would like to spend a whole week is always growing. This year, we decided to focus on two cities in Italy, Florence and Rome. While Rachel had been to both of these cities before, she was not able to see the cities nearly as much as she would have liked, so was happy to go back. 

We first flew to Florence, which immediately upon arrival, was already shaping up to be everything we hoped it would be. While trying to find where we were staying in the maze of jagged and narrow streets, we happened upon a flea market.  Perfect for us. 

A walk through the city led us to a number of amazing churches, art galleries, and scenic plazas. We climbed the 460 steep steps of the campanile, which provided excellent views of the city and surrounding countryside.  There are many great stories behind the main courtyard statues and various replicas, often with political overtones going back to the medieval era, and also peculiarities and secrets which require a guide to point out, all of which enhance one’s understanding of the historical life and climate of the city and its political place in Italy.

The Florence Cathedral - We love it's colors!

View from the top of the Camponile

Further exploration took us across the river over the iconic bridge, lined with jewelry shops and an old secret passageway for purposes of escape in times of war.  Beyond that were the Boboli Gardens, which stretched up one entire hill facing the city, and just down from it was a tightly woven intersection of pedestrian streets where we found just possibly one of the best gelato shops in all of Europe.  Scattered everywhere were pizza places, a few even offering gluten-free!  Surprisingly, the night was pretty calm downtown, and we spend some long and peaceful hours just watching the sunset from the bridge and then sitting in the moonlight with a cool and refreshing river breeze, marveling at the rows and rows of twinkling orange city lights.

We left Florence by bus, headed to Rome, with a warm incompleteness, the kind you feel when you just finish a good book, and know you'll want to read it again in the near future. It was the perfect introduction to a week of Italian history and lifestyle, with just the right blend of information overload and European tranquility… a great mood-setter for our Roman adventures just around the corner.