Albuquerque Hobbs: June 11-30, 2024: Another European conference trip--Part 3: Florence Italy!

Mike and I were excited to visit another new place--Florence Italy! We went on the weekend between conferences, so it was a short visit but very nice. I would have loved another day or two there!

From my Journal entry on Friday, June 21st:

We got up super early to take a bus to the Edinburgh Airport and to check our two largest bags. It was nice to travel lighter for a change. We ate yummy salads and croissants in the airport at Pret-A-Manger.

The flight was a few hours, and we both slept a bit. We were fed a half sandwich, chips, and a drink—an early lunch snack for us. Looking out the window, I noticed how hilly Florence is. It looks like a patchwork of farms and vineyards from the air. And the sky is overcast with a light brown hue near the mountains.

Scotland was cool and wet, whereas Italy was hot and muggy. We went from 60 degree weather in Scotland to a high of 88 in Florence. It will be less pleasant to walk in Florence, but we look forward to seeing and experiencing as much as we can during our short stay.

It’s now after 8pm, and we’re both very tired. We did a lot of walking on the stone streets and sidewalks, had some gelato, and ate a late lunch at a pasta place in a busy area with crowds of people. We were too early for our reservation at the Accademia Gallery, so we killed the time with window shopping and food.

There are a lot of sculptures and paintings at the Gallery, but the most famous is Michelangelo’s David statue. I was surprised at how tall it is, at 17 feet. And it’s as beautiful as you can imagine.

Our feet were killing us, so we walked back to the hotel and rested. It’s also hot out.

Sweet, puppy dog face

From my Journal entry on Saturday, June 22nd:

We got up early to make our free hotel breakfast, then headed out to find the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. We had perfect weather today—cloudy, breezy, and beautiful.

There are countless jewelry shops lined up on both sides, but they were not open yet. The views of the river and the other bridge and buildings is lovely.

On our way to the bridge, we saw so many vendors preparing to open up their little outdoor market shops. None had the same cute taupe colored leather bag we had found downtown and for the $40 euro clearance price. Wish we would have bought it our first day!

We went to the Ufizzi Museum and enjoyed roaming around that huge building and seeing as much as we could before feeling too wiped out. I also had the sorest toes and really wanted to find a pair of comfortable shoes.

We stopped at an Italian restaurant and had pizza and salad for lunch. We looked at a lot of jewelry shops on the bridge that were now open and busy. But we didn’t buy anything. I did find a lovely pair of gold peridot earrings, but they were over $1000 euros.

We looked for practical shoes for me at a few shoe stores and ended up buying a pair of Crocs sandals in a size women’s 11. They are comfortable and don’t hurt my feet. It was instant relief to change out of my tight tennis shoes that killed my toes. I put on my new shoes and threw out the old ones right away.

We found a decent food store and bought fresh watermelon, pineapple, cherries, and peanuts. We were so tired, that we stayed in our hotel room the rest of the day!