22 gennaio 2018
You should of seen the way this guy treated the leather jacket he was showing us, trying to prove it was real leather by burning it and violently stabbing it with scissors. It was hilarious!
I wanted to stop and get hot chocolate somewhere because it was pretty cold and I was dying to try European hot chocolate. We found a Lindt café! Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE Lindt chocolate. Luckily, the café lived up to its name! It was all white with bright lights coming from gold light fixtures. There were grand displays filled with chocolate in every form and flavor you can imagine. It was heavenly! We ordered hot chocolate and it was SO good. So thick and sweet, almost like the inside of a lindt chocolate ball!
What's even better is that it's right next to the Duomo. My two favorite things, side by side.
After finishing our chocolate, we got in line to see the inside the cathedral. We made some friends in line, a couple from Colorado. Believe it or not, the inside of the Duomo was kind of a let down! It wasn’t as grand as the outside. I mean it was massive and designed beautifully, but most of the walls were bare, unlike the very intricate exterior. Also odd because it seems like all other cathedrals are heavily detailed on the inside. Oh well, I still love it. Later in the day we bought tickets to go up to the dome. To get up there we had to climb so many steep, narrow stone stairs. It was a bit freaky, but SO worth it because the art inside the dome is amazing.
The mural on the inside of the massive dome is incredible. There is SO much detail, I could have stared at it for hours. Giuseppe eventually had to pull me away. The painting was divided into three three levels, with the bottom level representing hell. There were demons torturing naked people in the most brutal ways. The next level was heaven with people in colorful robes worshipping with Christ with cherubs floating around. And the very top of the dome were grand depictions of angels and Christ. I don’t understand how artists centuries and centuries ago managed to create this. We saw tiny little doors in the dome where I guess the artists would come out of to paint, laying upside down. CRAZY!
Later, outside on top of the dome, we got an amazing view of Florence. Florence lives up to its terracotta roof reputation! It’s such a beautiful city packed with old yellow buildings, red roofs, tiny cobblestone streets, grand cathedrals, castles, and beautiful bridges over the wide river.
We absolutely loved every second being up there.
For lunch we went to the indoor food market again. Giuseppe ordered a couple of sandwiches with some type of stinky cheese he loves. I thought was putrid. He has a more European palate than me. I found a little Chinese place that made vegetarian crêpes and it was amazing! I never knew eating a crêpe with chopsticks was a thing but it was actually really easy.
We spent the afternoon exploring the side of the city on the river. He showed me Ponte Vecchio which is the most picturesque shopping area I’ve ever seen! It felt like the 1700s. I saw the most beautiful pink opal ring on display in an elegant store on the bridge. Giuseppe said, "its 38 euro!" and I immediately imagined the charmed life I would lead with that ring on my finger when I chose that as my souvenir. When he saw my excitement he said, "sorry I mean 380 euro." Oh.
We then took a long stroll up to the top of a hill for another view of the city. It was probably a few miles because we didn't finish walking until sundown. It started on narrow, winding cobblestone road between colorful walls covered in vines and then later on the road let us to a picturesque broad avenue lined with trees. It was such a beautiful walk! We made friends with another couple headed to the top. Well Giuseppe did, I don’t speak Italian! I noticed the guy had one of those bracelets the Africans in Rome were “giving out for free”.
Our goal was to end up at Piazza Michelangelo, but unfortunately it was dark by the time we got there. So no good pictures, but it was cool to see the city lit up at night.
Our goal was to end up at Piazza Michelangelo, but unfortunately it was dark by the time we got there. So no good pictures, but it was cool to see the city lit up at night.
We were told beforehand to bring a swimsuit, so after we were given instructions on how to get up to the spa on the top floor, we changed into our suits. We walked around the room for a bit, looking at the two massage beds in the dark room with colorful lights and white curtains. Waited. And waited. But nobody came! I picked up a menu and looked through the services offered. Even thought I don't read Italian, I was able to find out pretty quickly that to book a masseuse there is an extra charge! haha! So we had booked the whole spa for two hours with no masseuse. I was laughing so hard because the ad was so misleading. Or maybe we are just fools and all spa reservations require an additional masseuse reservation? We wouldn't know, we've only been to the spa once. Regardless, we found the situation hilarious.
Luckily we were able to use the hot tub which had a cool view of the city from the open window. We had no intention of sitting in there for a full two hours, so then we sat in the sauna for a bit. Not a fan!! Steam rooms are way better, I hate the feeling of my skin getting so tight. With still about an hour left in our reservation, we decided to go ahead and give each other massages! What we thought was a really great deal for massages turned into a pretty expensive hot tub fee, so we wanted to get our money's worth.
It was so hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing during my massage. Giuseppe gave me a decent massage, but apparently I am not gifted at all in the massage department. Sorry G!
After that debacle we headed back into the city to wander around and get gelato! So it wasn't the relaxing night we were planning on but definitely a memorable night.
And of course we finished off the day with another walk around the DUOMO. Florence is magical.
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