Day 2 in Florence

Today, we are going to explore the streets of Florence, Italy!

But first, espresso coffee, fruit and croissants at a little local cafe.

Fueled and ready for the market, we start making our purchases before exploring the rest of the city. Since our Airbnb is so close, we can drop off our goodies and then head back out.

Kind of crazy to see vendors around beautiful ancient architecture and statues

Many of the shoe stores display their shoes outside on the walls since their stores are located in the basement with the doorway and steps leading downstairs from the street

So much to choose from, but we didn’t want to spend our day shopping so Michelle and Molly and I made our purchases as quickly as possible.

Now time to explore!

Florence has a very romantic feel. The beautiful architecture , large plazas, winding streets made of cobblestones and Italians fashionably dressed even riding their bicycles through town.

European fashion seems to be an individual’s artistic expression. Italians will be wearing sophisticated, well-thought out attire and accessories not just for work but even to just go buy groceries. Men in fine leather shoes, linen shirts, dress trousers and many wear hats and have leather ‘man bags’. Women are most often in dresses, pant suits, heels (though not stilettos on cobblestone roads😂), leather flats or sandals. In the stores, it seemed the fashion trend was still scarves, linen tops, short black leather jackets, wide-legged pants, and cargo pants seem to be making a comeback equally for men and women.

On the other hand, you can spot American tourists a mile away… blue jeans, yoga or sweat pants, shorts, T-shirts, hoodies, running shoes or flip-flops. It’s what I call the ‘American uniform’. It’s all about comfort, no aesthetics.

My French 97 year old mother still dresses fashionably every day even if she’s just staying at home!

As we walked through the town overwhelmed by all we could see, we came to the plaza of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (“Our Lady of the Flower”) built in the 1200’s. Florence (or Firenze, as Italians call this city) means ‘City of Blooming Flowers’. It’s the 4th largest cathedral in the world!

It’s the dome shaped building in the background

The entrance was free, but you cannot have bare shoulders or legs, sandals, sunglasses, or hats. We were prepared with shawls to put over our shoulders, but did not realize about the bare legs and sandals😬. Michelle had wanted to go up the 463 narrow steps to the Cupola to have an overlooking view of the city. We had heard it was a beautiful view, but Molly and I had earlier opted out on this suggestion and Michelle wasn’t able to go after all because she had on a sundress and sandals 😅

We then moved along to the Basilica of Santa Croce.

This Basilica houses the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo!

Out in the plaza were many artists painting, and we came upon a busker. Listen to his beautiful voice!

I guess his torn jean shorts were to appeal to the ‘staving’ artist need of appreciation donations 😂

I fell in love with this artist’s work and purchased a watercolor of a street in Florence:

We walked on towards Ponte Vecchio. This bridge has the distinction of being the only bridge not destroyed during WWII. A medieval arched river bridge built with shops on either side.