Europe: Remembering Florence

Having maneuvered Rome and public transportation, Jay and I were ready to set out on our own adventure. It started when Joel dropped us off at the train station in Pisa. His family was heading back for another day at the beach. We were headed to Florence with the same enthusiasm as Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping. They didn’t stamp our passports there, but as “Lucy” surely discovered on her honeymoon, there was much more to Florence than a passport stamp.

As we sat on the train platform in Pisa, eating our French (Italian?) pastry, I looked around and thought how very much it all looked just like the train station picture in my French 1 book.

The morning air felt cool, yet a little humid. Just sitting on the bench on the train platform made everything seem so different, so European. Jay had our day scheduled. I think I took his preparations way too much for granted. By the end of the day, I knew I had. With regional train tickets and Rick Steve’s guidebook in hand, we soon boarded our train for Florence. As Italian trains either zip or clickity-clack along from town to town, they all take in the great expanse of countryside.

Once we arrived, Jay, being the logical side of us, took his bearings so he’d know how to get us back to the station that evening. We had an appointment early to see David, the David. As others waited in long lines, Jay guided us around to the “reservation” entrance. (Thank you, Mr. Steves.) Butt naked and all, the statue is unbelievably incredible, right down to flexed tendons in his forearms and the veins in his legs. Art students were trying to sketch him and others just gazed in amazement. (We were in the “others” category.)

After David we explored a little known museum of De Vinci’s machines.  The mirrored closet, where you can see yourself from all angles was interesting…and revealing.

We ate lunch at a little outdoor café, toured the cathedral, decided against walking up the 400 tower stairs, and wandered forever through the art museum, by appointment, of course. We strolled over part of the covered bridge that houses establishments with lots of gold for sale and decided we were out of our element.

We hiked up a hill, a very steep hill in the heat of the day, to a parking lot that overlooks the town. On the way we passed an outdoor group watching the World Cup on a huge screen in a grassy area by the river. We just happened by when Italy scored. It was kind of infectious to see their enthusiasm, especially when people started stopping and getting out of their cars to join in the cheering.  

Later in the afternoon as we wandered the streets, the street venders seemed to materialize from nowhere. There I bought scarves for myself and the girls. If I’d only known what a good deal they were and how much I would love them, I’d have purchased more.

But, as the day came to a close and we sauntered back to the station, my favorite was the gift from Jay—a snow globe of Florence. And that will only have significance if you’ve seen While You Were Sleeping, and then you’ll also know why I keep it on the kitchen window seal to shake each day and to pronounce Florence as the Italians do—Fi REN ze.