I was so excited to have the opportunity to return to Florence! Jeff and I visited in 2006, while we were on a cruise through the Mediterranean. We had signed up to be on a tour through the cruise line that visited Florence and Pisa and unfortunately, we didn't have much time to wander through the city much on our own as we would have liked.
Church of Santa Maria Novella
My favorite thing to do when we visit a city is to pick out 4-5 "must sees" before hand and then after seeing my checklist, get lost in the city and be in the moment and discover more about the city off the beaten path.
We started heading towards the river. On our way we stopped and enjoyed our first scoop of Gelato!
Yummy Italian Gelato = One Happy Cannegieter Family!
I loved these buildings with the flowers by the windows.
Ponte Vecchio
It was fun to walk on the bridge and see all of the interesting shops. Good thing we had our gelato earlier because it was twice the price in this touristy area!
Museo Galileo
I had read about this museum in a travel book and thought it would be a good fit for our family because wanted to at least go to one museum in Florence.
There were two floors full of many interesting inventions and science tools to learn about. Unfortunately, the a/c wasn't working and so it was a little hard to enjoy (I guess we are still too Americanized :)
On the ground floor there was an amazing interactive area for families to enjoy and to participate in some science experiments.
It was the favorite spot of the museum. Kathryn wasn't too happy about leaving!
Piazza della Signoria
Andrew on Kathryn duty through the Piazza.
We found a pizzeria to feed this teenage boy and make him happy!
Piazza del Duomo
Kathryn needed a break from being a tourist and so we stopped at this little area and she put on a show for us and everyone there!
Piazza della Rebpubblica
Many cities in Europe have carousels in some of the main areas. We use these as an award for Kathryn. If she is happy during our visit, she gets to ride on the carousel towards the end of the day.
We had parked outside of the city and took the train in so we didn't have to mess with parking. Before catching our train back we found a McDonald's to once again refuel the teenage boy's bellies. We hit the ice cream lottery and was able to score our first milkshakes in four months!
We could easily spend another two weeks in Florence. It is such a great city! We hopefully can go back again someday.
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