Florence

So my mom has asked me (Erin) to blog about our last adventure. My friend Anna Glad, who we knew from Morocco, is visiting us from Utah for a couple weeks. It was my mom, Anna and I on this trip - we drove down from Bern on monday, we left at 6 am and it was only about 7 1/2 hours. Then we got back Thursday night - after an AWESOME trip. :) 

This is Anna & my mom outside the door to the little apartment that we rented :)

My mom & me by the Duomo - which I just loved! It was my favorite building in Florence, the outside was just gorgeous. On the right is the Baptistery, and on the left you can see the Cathedral with the famous Dome made by Brunelleschi. 

The first day we went to a little restaurant - and the guy making our pizzas was great! He was just singing in Italian the whole time- we loved it! 

 This is by the Ponte Vecchio (bridge) in the background. I love the reflection in this picture!

 We walked up the Bell Tower of the Cathedral, and had a beautiful view over Florence from up top. But we did it in the early afternoon- and it was SO hot! The temperature was above 90 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time we were there! A big change from Bern.

                A view of the Duomo from the top of the Bell Tower.

             This is the 3 of us in the archaeological site of the church that was covered up in order to build the new Duomo in the 14th century. It was nice and cool down there after our climb up the tower :)

 Mom & Anna in front of the Bell Tower that we climbed up.

 Anna & I sitting up on a hill across the Arno river looking over Florence. :)

                          Me looking over Florence from the Michelangelo Piazza.

The markets that we saw reminded us a lot of the medinas in Morocco. We had to try to renew our bargaining skills! :)

In the Piazza del Signoria - we're sitting under the Loggia which is kind of an open-air sculpture gallery. This is the square where the David by Michelangelo was for a couple hundred years- before they decided to put it in the Accademia Gallery for protection.

 Having a dinner of fresh tortellini in our apartment :) Yummmmmmy!

 On the drive home Thursday morning we stopped in Pisa for a little bit. And here we are with the Leaning Tower. :)

Mom, Anna and I stopped to take pictures in the wildflowers after we drove back into Switzerland. It was a relief coming back to Switzerland- even just for the increased sanity of the drivers. But the views were breaktakingly beautiful throughout the whole drive. And we made it back safely - the most important thing :)