I fell in love.

With a city. Clearly, it can happen, because I fell head over heels in love with Florence, Italy.

This was not my first visit to Firenze but this one is surely leaving a mark on my heart. As soon as we arrived by train, we stopped by a marvelous cafe for lunch just ahead of a major lunch rush and then settled into our Air Bnb.

This spot is very different from the palatial space we had in Rome. It is comfortable but doesn't have the amenities I grew spoiled by in Rome. 😜 For example, it is lacking counter space and a dishwasher but it does have a better functioning fridge.

I made a beeline to my first destination: Ponte Vecchio. The iconic bridge was a mere 20 minutes walk from our apartment and I took by good ole time getting there because I was stopped in my tracks so many times by the magic that can only be found in the capital of Tuscany.

Florence is such a walking city. I meandered and at one point rounded the corner to spot the one and only Santa Maria del Fiore - the Florence Cathedral! I knew it was close by but I still gasped when I spotted it. Although I have seen this grand place in the past, the duomo and the bell tower are beyond impressive. Many of you have suggested climbing the duomo but I opted to pass this go around. The combination of a late-in-life fear of heights and the exceptional heat prompted me to admire the building and pop into the sanctuary to hear a choir sing as I lit a candle the following day.

Walking around the streets, I was struck by how many English speakers I heard. My guess is 8 out of the 10 people I heard were speaking English. This was a very different experience than I had in Rome. The shops....the restaurants...the opera singers. As I shared in a social media post, I was moved to tears by how much joy I felt in the experience. I will tell you that I am only half-kidding (or half-baked?) about moving here. My friend, Belinda, shared a resource: Kylie Flavell is an Australian who took the leap and put together a whole mess of videos about the experience. I am watching this video about coming up with the budget and the ins and outs of becoming an expat living in Italy. Who knows - maybe I will take the leap someday!

Lila and I went out for a delicious pizza lunch and popped into the first Medici Palace for a peek. It was pretty amazing and it also included a special exhibit featuring the work of a new-to-me painter, Oscar Ghiglia. The exhibit included a few portraits and some still life paintings, which were my favorite due to their bold colors.

On my solo adventures, I popped by to check out a nearby mercato that was filled to the brim with those famous leather products and I picked up a gorgeous floral wrap.

I made plans for the two of us to visit just two museums, one of which was the Uffizi Galleries. It was a relatively easy process of getting tickets online last week and then getting those tickets in hand before we could jump into a rather long admission line. But the line moved rather quickly and I would say it was about a 15 minute total wait time. I was struck by this sense of uncomfortable urgency - an energy coming from so many people in the museum and it felt like may had 'forgotten' how to be with so many people in a museum. I didn't see one person smiling! WTF? There, right in front of us, was the breathtaking art by Botticelli and the expressions on people's faces could only be described as unhappy. Or, I couldn't see their faces because their phone was in front of it taking photos. Yes, I also took a quick photo but I actually LOOKED at the art to absorb it. It was a rather strange experience. I didn't feel that kind of energy when I was at the museums in Rome. Interesting....

Lila and I are pursuing the required gelato-a-day meal plan. We don't spend a lot of time out an about due to the heat but we do get to some exploring....and a whole lot of eating, too! 😂