La Vita e Bella- Florence Duo

Ok, so let's review. Our hostel was literally a converted villa, and since Florence is in Tuscany, it was positively gorgeous. Early spring in Italy. There are no words!


This museum is... the inside of our hostel. I'm not kidding. It was a villa!


We did the "essential Florence" since we really only had one day. We started at the Duomo... (dome in the background)... of which I did not take any interior photos because I am a jaded tourist who has "enough photos already" of European cathedrals... but I stand by my decision. If you want to see it, go Wikipedia it!

For some unknown reason, we then thought it was a good idea to climb the bell tower. You can clearly see how this was converted into a tourist attraction:

Fr. Mario: Gee, Fr. Luigi. We don't actually ring a bell anymore, what are we going to do with this old bell tower?
Fr. Luigi: I know! We'll tell tourists that it's fun to climb to the top!
Fr. Mario: Even tourists aren't that silly. There are so many stairs! And no railings! And no way for more than one person to pass at a time!
Fr. Luigi: That's ok... we'll just convince the American tourists, and the rest will follow...


I will admit the views are wonderful. Even on an obnoxiously cloudy day!


Baptistry doors. Check!


I believe this was the Medici household, but I'm not sure. At any rate, it gives you an idea of the beautiful artwork all around!


In all, Florence was lovely. I would spend another week there and in the Tuscan country side in a heartbeat! My one regret was that we missed the memo that you need reservations for the Ufizzi, the world's largest collection of Renaissance art, so after spending 2 hours in line we only had about 45 minutes to see all of these amazing things! We only made it 1/3 of the way through. *Sigh* (Don't let this happen to you! If you go to Florence, reserve tickets!!!)

But I guess if that's my biggest regret over Spring Break, I'm doing OK. :)