We Are Not In Woodbury Anymore!: January 3rd -- Oh! What a Beautiful City!

January 3, 2013 -- Day 1 Florence

We arrived home to Germany yesterday, emptied some bags, did some laundry and packed again. This time for Florence, Italy.

We arrived around 11 am on Wednesday to a sunny sky -- this does not usually occur in Germany. We took a cab from the airport. Chris paid the driver and said danke -- I guess he really is a resident of Germany. We quickly checked into our hotel (an old convent) and headed out to explore. First stop, Mario's for lunch. This is a very small family owned trattoria where you have to share tables with other guests. Chris and C had rabbit, Alana, K and S had pasta and I had pork speidini. A good start to our trip.

After lunch, we walked around the city. C, S, K and Alana climbed the tower near the Duomo -- Campanario de Giotto. They braved the 414 steps for a wonderful view of the city and some great pictures. The highlight of the afternoon was seeing "The David." It is so impressive. No photographs were allowed. While I followed the rules, some in my family did not.

After the David, K, C and Alana had a cup of coffee while Chris, S and I headed toward the Ponte Vecchio. We made a stop at one of the hundreds of gelato shops. Then, S made a purchase at one of the shops near the bridge -- boots of course. We also ran into the Porcellino Fountain -- sure to bring good luck if you rub his snout. After exploring, we headed back to the hotel to get dressed for dinner.

On the way to dinner, C had another blog moment. The map from the Fodor's book was wrong so Chris asked a bus driver for help (he was parked near a stop). Before he knew it, two other gentlemen on the bus as well as the bus driver were giving him directions all in Italian. It was nice to see that C could make friends so easily in Italy.

Here are some of the pictures that we took on Day 1.