This morning Ben had to get up early to set up his poster at the conference. He also attended the first session of lectures. So, we woke up early to eat breakfast together. I hung out for a while until he came back around 10am . . . and we finally took a much needed nap.
Our TASK for the day was Boboli Gardens (behind the Pitti Palace). It was a pleasant walk down past the sights and across the Arno River. We weren’t hungry enough for lunch yet, so we just got gelato. DETOUR: As we got to the Palace entrance we read on the sign that they only took cash, so we needed to stop by the bank. There was one right across the street and it had a funny entrance where only one person could enter at a time and it sealed you off in a tube before the front opened to let you in the bank. It was very “Star Trek-like.”
Anyway, as we waked into the courtyard of the palace it was amazing to think that people actually lived there.
There were, once again, beautiful views of the Florence skyline. The weather has been perfect for us on this trip, aside from that first few hours of rain as we got into the city. It was warm, sunny and a refreshing breeze was blowing.
As we entered the garden area there is quite a hike up to the top of the grounds. I have to admit; I was sweating a little and breathing hard when we got to the top. But, the view was worth it.
As we looked off of the back side of the palace grounds I felt like we were out of the city and in the Tuscan countryside. The hillside was covered with olive trees and dotted with homes painted Tuscan Yellow.
It was refreshing to be outside of the city and in such a peaceful place. As we walked back down through the gardens we stopped and sat on a stone bench. The panoramic view of the red tile rooftops of the city was spectacular. The green lawn spread out in front of us and the trees shaded us from the afternoon sun. We sat and talked for hours. It was amazing to think that we have been together now for 16 years. We decided that we are pretty lucky to have one another! I think this was my favorite day in Florence.
1 comment:
We think we are pretty lucky to have you (and Ben) in our family!
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