Florence...

Hi Readers, 

This post will be short and sweet as we have been on the go all day and I'm still knackered from a big day yesterday.

Imagine my worry when I wake up this morning to see a message on my phone from one of my boys back home. 'Dad, please call me'.

Well, I was immediately thinking something really bad had happened, and when I rang Will he told me that they'd had a big storm and that water had backed up a drain and flooded part of the house. It managed to flood the part of the house that is carpeted, so poor Will is now trying to deal with the insurance company in our absence. Luckily he'll be able to use the other end of the house that has our bedroom, but after being left on hold for two and a half hours he is not keen on trying to make contact with them again. Needless to say, after hearing that a very terse email was sent to them from Italy!!

We are just thankful that it was only something concerning the house, rather than something happening to one of the boys while we are away.

Today was another train trip, another fast train from Reggio Emilia to Florence. We didn't get to see a lot of scenery along on the way as we spent a lot of time going through tunnels. As we got yo Florence we saw why there were so many tunnels as there was a big mountain range behind us. That must have taken some work to get that rail line through them.

After getting to our digs it was off exploring this city which is absolutely amazing. The place is buzzing with people, and we have been told that this is the quiet time of the year. 

We just wandered the streets and markets and admired the beauty in the buildings and old churches that we popped into for a look.

Even the outsides of some of the buildings left us in awe at the architecture and designs.

 

Very cold once again, but as the skies are are clear it is not a problem being out and about.

A few pressies got purchased today and we were surprised that when Jen was buying a new handbag, she paused a few times to think about it, and every time she did the bloke dropped his price. We didn't have to haggle as he was doing the haggling for us! In the end we scored some extra gifts as well as getting quite a few euros knocked off for her bag.

We have just got back from dinner next door which was great. I opted for a seafood pasta which was loaded with all sorts of seafood. The prawns in it come whole, so there was bit of a mess by the time I finished!

As we were the first customers in there ( and it was after 7.00pm) our coats were taken and hung up in the cloakroom. When we were leaving I went to get them, only to find that a large group that had just come in had hung all their stuff on top of ours, so here I was dropping all of their coats while looking for ours, all the while copping nasty stares from them for touching their gear.

In the end all was good!

Just a few minutes walk from our digs is this fabulous church. Tomorrow we are planning to climb to the top.

The intricate states and carvings on this building need to be seen to be believed.

One of the many busy markets in the streets. Great for junk as well as some quality goods.

Totally have no idea what this building was, but it scrubs up well in a photo just for the way it stood out!

Another random view down a street. 

The Chtistmas decorations are still up, we are hoping to get out tonight to see them lit up.

A view from the main bridge in Florence. Just to get to the edge was a challenge as everyone wants to get a photo.

 As we were walking down the street just before it began to get dark ( at about 5.00!!) I was struck by the thousands of birds flying overhead. They looked like starlings. 

But someone else who was probably struck more by them was the lady walking beside me who I was talking to and saying "Look at those birds, look at those birds" ( along with a few stupid other comments that I'm prone to throwing in as well!) Only when I turned to her to get a response, thinking it was my wife did I realise that she was a total stranger, and that Jen was still about 20m behind me looking in a shop window!

That explains why she wasn't answering me!!!

Looking back towards the main bridge in Florence.

And the daily obligatory selfie!! And while I was taking this, one of the very many people who hassle you in the streets to buy selfie sticks was pestering us to buy one. No luck there.

The Christmas decorations at night, the photo doesn't capture how great they look.

The large Christmas tree in the main square.

And here is a promised photo to someone in Bendigo who surprised me with a pair of new socks for Christmas. I promised to share them in my postings, so here they are Sienna, resting up in Florence after a big day. And don't worry, they will be washed regularly!!!

Tomorrow is another big day, I hear that a museum is on the cards as Jen wants to see the statue of David, something which I only became aware of today. I guess I'm showing my artistic ignorance there!!

Until my next post...

Cheers!!