This one’s for my mama…
Last night I came home to find an email from mia madre requesting one more post from Italy before I pack it all up and head back to ATL. Countdown: 3 days til departure. If I find some time over the weekend I might be able to crank out another post, but just in case I don’t…here’s my last post from Italia!
Yesterday Dimitri and I decided to be tourists in our town. There were a few things around the city that we hadn’t gotten around to doing in the last year and a half (WOW…time flies), so we ventured out into the insane, crowded, Easter vacationing tourist-lined streets for a day of fun.
Our first stop was supposed to be to climb the cupola of the Duomo. We got to the entrance and found a sign posted next to the locked door of the entrance. Apparently there are repairs needed inside so the cupola climb is closed (like that alliteration?!) from April 21-25. Seriously? Closed my last 4 days and ONLY my last 4 days? I guess that’s what you get for putting something off for 18 months. Luckily the bell tower was open, so we decided to climb that instead.
414 Stairs, here we come!
While we waited I enjoyed some people watching. And some doggie watching…duh. I was very pleased to spot this pup posing with his mommy for a caricature sketch.
I can’t imagine trying to hold Lily or Tourney on my lap for a sketch. They hardly hold still long enough to snap a photo!
The stairwell is super duper skinny, so I don’t recommend this activity for claustrophobia-prone individuals. Once you reach the landings, however, there is plenty of space to move around and snap fun photos!
D and I decided we were glad we had to climb the tower. This way we had AMAZING views of the cupola and the city.
These photos arefrom about halfway up.
Getting closer to the top!
We made it! Kinda feelin’ the burn from that stair-climbing today, actually.
It was great having a bird’s eye view of the city. Dimitri quickly pointed out the palazzo…I made it all focus-fancy and pretty so you could really see what I’m talkin’ bout.
So glad we did the climb! Once we got back to safe ground it was time to head over to the Boboli Gardens at Palazzo Pitti. All I kept thinking the whole time was, “this was someone’s back yard?!” I clearly need an 11 acre yard someday.
While the property is absolutely gorgeous, we were a little disappointed. We were about a week early in terms of blossomage (that’s a scientific term, in case you were wondering). We did see a few early bloomers, though. I tried to take advantage of my “fancy camera” as best I could.
hehe! This is my favorite “Euro-pose” of the day. We watched a girl and her mother posing with these wall-climbing flowers for 10 whole minutes. The girl was doing her best to look tangled and mysterious/sultry/playful/shy during her photo shoot. I think my photo says, “how do you like my flower beard?!”
The rest of our day was spent window shopping and lazily wandering home. One sight I will definitely miss:
Love you, Mom! See you soon!
iPhone Photo Tour of Florence
After today I only have 11 days left in Italy :( so I decided to spend today outside enjoying the sights! My plan was to take a nice loooonnng walk through the city, across the river & up to San Miniato (beautiful church on one of the highest points in Florence). I decided to keep track of my journey with my iPhone…here’s the breakdown of my walk:
There are about 100 spikes down in pace because of all of the pics I stopped to snap! I love how Nike+ calls everything a run…slowest. run. ever.
So…here we go with the tour…
Walking down our street towards the Duomo.
Oh! Hello!
Palazzo Vecchio
My recreation of a postcard I saw last week…I might have to go back and buy it.
Sun shining down on the Uffizi
Italy’s version of “Locks of Love”
Ponte alle Grazie
Seriously?! Did someone just paint the clouds in the sky today? LOVE IT
Starting the hike up to Piazzale Michelangelo
The view halfway up
Hi! I’m Erica, and I’ll be your ghostly white tour guide!
David…lookin’ good as usual
I can’t get enough of the flowers this spring. These colors are amazing!
Pop Quiz: (if you know me you’ll have no trouble with this one)
Of the three destinations on this sign which one was I most excited about reaching? Think about it…I had already been away from home for a whole hour…haha
San Miniato! Supposedly the oldest church in Florence. (that’s what a college professor was telling his class, anyway…I’m doing the eavesdropper’s study abroad)
San Miniato is surrounded by a huge cemetery…not a bad location for your final resting place if you ask me!
Streeeetttcchhh to get that sunlight!
This was the point during my walk when I got a sudden burst of energy and decided to do walking lunges up all of the hills surrounding Piazzale Michelangelo. I passed by a woman at one point that smiled at me and said, “Brava!” yay me. :)
I took a detour home and hung out on a bench in front of Santa Croce for about 20 minutes. I thought the sign was pretty funny…it’s positioned right in the middle of the piazza. What am I supposed to ! ? I like to think it’s just a sign to inform me that there’s a really exciting church coming up.
Hope you enjoyed the tour!
A beautiful day in the neighborhood
Florence is blooming!!
Dimitri and I ventured out to get a good dose of Vitamin D today. We hung out in a few piazze, and sat for a while in front of Santa Maria Novella to listen to an awesome guitarist.
We changed seats after a few minutes and strategically positioned ourselves next to this cute little pup. Her name is Viola. She barked and whined at her parents until they woke up and played with her.
Eventually Dimitri had to go and do the work thang, so I headed home. He called me up about an hour later to come outside to see our favorite pup on the block, George. He’s a 5 month old English Bulldog, and he just had his second eye surgery :( to fix the glands under his eyes. According to his mom it’s a very common surgery for bulldogs. Dimitri found a sweet spot under his E-collar. :)
Dimitri and I stopped by Giacosa for due cappuccini this morning. The chocolate swirls turned out as double e’s. :)
Dimitri and I have watched this video about 10 times in the last 24 hours…can’t get enough. Lily makes a very similar face when she knows she’s in trouble.
Gym Dogs
No, I’m not referring to UGA’s amazing gymnasts. Today I saw a real, live gym dog. He was dutifully following his dad around during his workout this morning. Most of the time he stood guarding his human, but he gratefully accepted the many ear scratches he received from other gym patrons.
This is one of the facts about living in Italy that I love the most…you can take your dog ANYWHERE! Well, almost everywhere. I’ve seen a few restaurants and grocery stores that won’t allow it, but for the most part pups are widely accepted. I love it!
