​RICK STEVES' EUROPE

Florence, Italy  Day 7, 8

 

Arrival in Florence was cloudy, with spots of sunshine. On the second day there was a race going on - so there were extra people in the city that day. Again it didn't matter... I was in Italy!

 

When I first arrived in Florence, I had a plan, I was headed to Accedamia to see DAVID and I had to pass the Duomo to get there. When I saw the Duomo, I gasped, my jaw dropped and I stopped dead in my tracks. The grandios of the Duomo can not be described. Awe-inspiring! An amzaing site to see. Challenge accomplished!

One of my favorite stories to tell about

Florence, which I lovingly call  "My Florentine." 

(See Photo) To get away from the crowd on

Sunday I decided to explore Piazzale Michelangelo. At the look out, I stood beside a women that

spoke no English. When I discovered she lived all her life in Florence I paniced and said "Buon giorno." Which was past the time to say this. This made her smile and she continued to repeat it correctly in Italian - rolling her 'r's." This made me smile. Panicing again, I couldn't think of the Italian word for beautiful. So I just waved my hand from side to side toward Florence saying "Beautiful." Finally, she smiled waving her hand across Florence saying "Bella." YES... that was the word that I wanted to say. We grabbed each others hand, squeezing and wavying our other hand across Florence saying "Bella." We were both smiling... We both had tears in our eyes... an amazing moment that will never be forgotten. Challenge accomplished!