We last left off speeding along at about 150 mph on our way from Venice to Florence. In case you missed my love of all things high-speed train, I’ll say it again: High-speed rail is just about as wonderful as a large bowl of pasta with a 9-oz pour of Malbec. The trip into Florence’s city-center took about 2 hours and the 5 Dweebs disembarked looking like the typical American entourage that Europeans cringe at every day. When we all lived overseas in Kazakhstan, we tried extremely hard to blend in with dress, mannerisms, the language we chose to learn, and most of all TONING IT DOWN! Oops, sorry, I mean toning it down! Americans are notoriously loud and sometimes obnoxious. But as we began our journey to find the Airbnb, I think we’d forgotten how to blend.
I’m not sure if it was the carry-ons and suitcases, or the fact that we became utterly and completely lost that gave us away, but I have zero doubt that it was painfully apparent we were “not from around these parts”.
The description of the apartment said it was within a very short distance of the train station and the main historic square with the cathedral and museums, but clearly, we could not read a map or follow Google’s directions AT ALL that day. About 40 minutes of hauling luggage later, we eventually popped into a “hostel” that we thought was the right place and even had a similar address number, but sadly was not. The nice check-in lady there though made a phone call to our hostess and very soon all was set to rights, and we found our amazing, gracious, and super helpful hostess, Nadia.
She was so sweet she even walked towards where we were, about a block and a half away, and grabbed Anara’s suitcase and hauled it herself as she guided us to the right apartment. I mean really?! We were gobsmacked!
She showed us into the palatial apartment that had 3 separate sleeping areas, 2 bathrooms (one with a tub!), a kitchen, and living area. It was supreme! The décor was freaking amazing with antiques packed inside, old books, glassware. Anara even exclaimed, “I’d love to decorate a place like this myself someday!”. These are the only 4 photos I have but might give a little glimpse of how old and cool it is!
As with a lot of this trip, I had packed a LOT into each destination and day so we could see and experience as much as we possibly could. This meant that after a quick use of the bathrooms and a luggage dump, we raced off to the Cathedral of Santa Maria di Fiore, often referred to as “The Duomo” which means the same thing. It is the #1 attraction, and most visited in Florence followed by the Uffizi Galleries, the Ponte Vecchio, and other various museums. I mean, one could hardly miss this enormous structure of incredible beauty! I’ll start with the many, many photos I have of the exterior and what anyone who visits the piazza would see. To say it is jaw-dropping would be a gross understatement. The inlay of various colored marbles, the intricate carved statuary and filigree, the angles, and graceful dome….
First an invitation to the explorer! (Anara was smart enough to capture a bit of this!)
https://youtube.com/shorts/9-IR4P5xKgw?si=f6QXcT1v58expNzP
A word about visiting: It is free to visit the cathedral itself although a line does form so getting there early is a good idea! But if you want to climb the dome or the bell tower you must pay and make reservations. It wasn’t too expensive for a package deal which we bought for the 3 of us- this allowed us to climb the dome, the bell tower, and visit the baptistry (which we skipped for lack of time).
Here’s how it all went down. Mom and Dad rested at the Airbnb for a short bit, then slowly made their way to the Cathedral Plaza and met up with us a bit later after we’d toured it. It took quite some doing to find the right line to stand in to be admitted to the Bell Tower, which we had a timed reservation for. We were cutting it VERY close due to our dweeby, inept mapping skills, but as it was, we did make it in time. And thus began a small piece of hell inside a church.
Okay, raise your hand if you have ever climbed 400 steps while getting pressured from behind? If you have you will know what Satan’s fork feels like as it stabs you repeatedly in the thighs and butt. For like half an hour, which feels like eternity, as you keep pressing on, you will hurt. Every 100 steps or so, you get a little respite while you take in the views from one of the viewing levels with a break.
Spoiler: I did not make it. I was one level short before my legs just could not carry me one step further. Before I was done with the heinous hike back down (yes, Friends, you better pray you don’t overdo it going up, or you’ll be stuck in Bell Tower Purgatory forever) my legs were starting to bargain with Satan for abstinence from plates of pasta and glasses of Merlot in exchange for relief from the shaking.