We went to Italy at the beginning of March - March 5th-13th. On our Italy adventure we spent our first two full days in Florence with our friends, the Rasmussens. Florence is claimed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Our first morning there we checked out the Duomo, the cathedral of Florence. 
Last Judgment frescoes by Vasari:
While Bailee and the men climbed 463 steps to the top of the dome, Allison and I enjoyed a yummy creme-filled doughnut with the littler ones! :) Some pictures as they climbed and the view from the top of the dome:
Audrey and I outside the Duomo:
The kids getting out the wiggles as we wait for Bailee and the men to make their way down:
We also wandered through the Central Market of Florence on Saturday. After much deliberation the guys picked out some high quality ties. :) Out of all the places we ate in Italy, the restaurant we found down some random street in Florence for Saturday lunch, was my favorite. The girls even enjoyed it - the yummy bread and drinking soda in a fancy glass: 
Rachel outside the train station in Florence:
Saturday afternoon we grabbed a bus and headed up to San Miniato al Monte, which is a monastery in the hills above Florence. We enjoyed the views, exploring through the cemetery, checking out the beautiful monastery, listening to the monks chant, and a beautiful Florence sunset. 
Some pictures of the cemetery - quite amazing:
The monastery: 
The whole gang: 
We walked down a short way to Piazza Michelangelo. We got a glimpse of what was in store the next day when we saw the real David.
Florence at night:
The next day was full of museum visits. We first went to the Uffizi, which contains some of the greatest art of the Renaissance. We were able to see The Birth of Venus (probably the highlight of the museum) and many other works of art. Quite amazing to see such paintings and sculptures. We enjoyed a quick lunch that afternoon:
Then off to the Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's David. I read Michelangelo's biography by Irving Stone last winter. It was really neat this trip to see many of the sculptures and paintings that I read about in the book. The David was huge and amazing. You can see veins, muscles flexing, etc... What an amazing talent! The rest of the day we rode a tourist bus to make sure there weren't any parts of Florence we missed. The kids were happy campers on the bus:
A few more pictures of Florence:
We enjoyed our two days in Florence. As we drove from Florence down to Pompeii we enjoyed the Italian countryside. The Tuscany area would definitely be a nice place to visit for a longer period of time, but vacation time doesn't always allow for that. Our next stop was Pompeii...
Last Judgment frescoes by Vasari:While Bailee and the men climbed 463 steps to the top of the dome, Allison and I enjoyed a yummy creme-filled doughnut with the littler ones! :) Some pictures as they climbed and the view from the top of the dome:Audrey and I outside the Duomo:The kids getting out the wiggles as we wait for Bailee and the men to make their way down:Rachel outside the train station in Florence:Saturday afternoon we grabbed a bus and headed up to San Miniato al Monte, which is a monastery in the hills above Florence. We enjoyed the views, exploring through the cemetery, checking out the beautiful monastery, listening to the monks chant, and a beautiful Florence sunset. 
Some pictures of the cemetery - quite amazing:The monastery: The whole gang: We walked down a short way to Piazza Michelangelo. We got a glimpse of what was in store the next day when we saw the real David.
Florence at night: The next day was full of museum visits. We first went to the Uffizi, which contains some of the greatest art of the Renaissance. We were able to see The Birth of Venus (probably the highlight of the museum) and many other works of art. Quite amazing to see such paintings and sculptures. We enjoyed a quick lunch that afternoon:
Then off to the Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's David. I read Michelangelo's biography by Irving Stone last winter. It was really neat this trip to see many of the sculptures and paintings that I read about in the book. The David was huge and amazing. You can see veins, muscles flexing, etc... What an amazing talent! The rest of the day we rode a tourist bus to make sure there weren't any parts of Florence we missed. The kids were happy campers on the bus:
A few more pictures of Florence:
We enjoyed our two days in Florence. As we drove from Florence down to Pompeii we enjoyed the Italian countryside. The Tuscany area would definitely be a nice place to visit for a longer period of time, but vacation time doesn't always allow for that. Our next stop was Pompeii...
4 comments:
Funny story for you. Shauni and I got together this morning and she mentioned how jealous she was of you going to Italy and then I come home and check my blogs and you've posted about your Italy trip. Oh, we also mentioned how much we miss you!
Looked like you had a great time. Hope your toe is healing ok!!!
What a fun trip! and it look like Audrey is a good sleeper :)
Can't wait to hear about Pompelli
What a great start to your trip. I'm so enjoying the rundown! Great photos. Will bring you a copy of the London pics to church on Sunday.
One time I was sharing stories of Florence with a friend who'd been there and said something like, "Yeah, and then you walk inside and BAM! David's so huge!" and he said, "There's one inside??" Turns out, he'd seen that one on the plaza and called it good! Haha!! Poor sucker! What a great trip with your family!
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