Florence - Day 1

We all got to sleep in a bit on our first full day in Florence! I woke up around 8:15 and started getting ready, we woke the kids up around 8:45 to try and get them acclimated to local time. Clementine had her bottle and Silas took his toast to go and we were out the door on our way to the Uffizi Gallery for a 10am timed entry.

The streets of Florence in the morning were bustling with people and it was a beautiful 60° day, with the sun shining bright. We were nearly to the museum when we passed a caffé - Bren and I had to get our morning coffee. We decided to try the famous “cappuccino” and were not disappointed. In fact, we each had 3 cappuccinos throughout the rest of the day 😂 the coffee here is delicious.

We arrived at Uffizi and it was a short line to get in. I hadn’t really done a ton of research, but knew there were famous works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci and Caravaggio. We had our stroller loaded down, not knowing how long we would be out and about. When we got through security, they told us we would have to go up to the second floor and that the elevator was on the other side of the building. I’m not sure how Bren didn’t learn his lesson but I was ready to say “please show us the elevator and he goes “well take the stairs”! I stared at him in shock…but up we went. At about the third flight of stairs, he started questioning how much further we had and I reminded him the guide said 126 steps. Brennan stopped, shocked, and said “I thought he said 26 steps!” 😂 well that explained a lot.

We finally made it to the top floor and started moseying our way through the works of art. Silas was actually so good. He enjoyed finding the “baby” in many paintings (usually the baby Jesus), and marveling at all of the granite sculptures. We kept getting ooohs and aaahs with people pointing to Clementine. Finally, I started looking around and realized there really weren’t any other babies in the museum nor in the streets of Florence. There were toddlers, but I didn’t see any babies under maybe 18 months. I’m not sure if people just don’t travel with babies or people aren’t having babies, or both! Regardless, it was reinforced that we were a little bit crazy for taking our 6 month old on this trip. Then about 30 minutes into the tour, she was fast asleep. Honestly, a museum is a great place to get a baby to take a nap. It was pretty quiet for the most part, and constant movement helped too.

We made our way through the museum and ended at the famous Medusa painting by Caravaggio - Clementine asleep the entire time.

Truly an incredible work of art.

As we walked back outside, we sat down at a pizza restaurant with outdoor seating. Silas was so excited to finally be getting his pizza in Italy. We ordered him a cup of milk as well and he was thrilled when it came out in a fancy cup with donuts (we didn’t ask for them, they just brought them out)! Brennan and I ordered our cappuccinos, some charcuterie and of course, pizza.

Just DELICIOUS

That red sauce with the prosciutto…to die for.

At this point, I’m truly so shocked at how great the kids are doing. We finished our lunch and decided to walk back towards our apartment through Piazza Della Signoria where Silas had fun looking at the fountains and chasing pigeons. We finally came across a gelato shop and had to stop - Silas was so happy he was finally getting “Italy ice cream” (and so was I)!

As we kept walking, we noticed a lot of shops were closed. I remember wondering if Italy slows down mid-afternoon like Spain does for “siesta”. That’s exactly what we were all going back to do! After everyone got in a nap or rest, we decided to venture out again.

This time, we went to Ponte Vecchio - a super cool bridge with mostly jewelry shops on it! This photo was one of the only scenic areas on it.

We walked along the river for a bit, then decided to walk back towards our apartment.

Silas was getting tired (he actually did not nap, just “rested” earlier), and so we put Clementine in the carrier and Silas in the stroller. It was about that moment when I was second guessing my decision not to bring a double stroller! We knew Clementine needed one more nap to get her through, and I told Brennan we just needed a sidewalk cafe so we can feed her and get her to sleep in the carrier. Not 3 minutes later, we stumbled upon Piazza Santa Croce - complete with a beautiful basilica and of course, a sidewalk cafe! Brennan had a beer and I ordered a Pinot Grigio (I know, who am I without Chardonnay), and I looked into this basilica a bit more. It was completed in 1385 and is the burial place of many famous Italians - Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo to name a few.

Brennan and I reflected on the day and how good it is for the kids to expose them to sights, sounds, smells, foods they never experience in America. I mention how refreshing it is to be back in Europe for the first time since 2019 - something about this place reminds us to slow down, take in the historical sights and appreciate a culture so different from our own. America is so obsessed with more more more - more work, more money, more things, more efficiency. Europe isn’t bothered by spotty cell phone service, slow restaurants, slow security lines. Life isn’t about getting more, life is about experiencing more.

As Clementine fell asleep on me, Brennan asked Silas what his favorite part of the day was. I took a sip of my wine as he said “gelato!” enthusiastically and thought out loud, “this is exactly what I had in mind when I planned this trip”.

Salute!