A new day and everyone is in a better mood. Today’s plan was to use the morning to walk around and explore the city. We got dressed, ready, and out the door. Initially our plan was to go in a counter clockwise loop through all of the main Piazzas in the city center and end the walk along the Arno River.
We started out and grabbed some pastries and cappuccinos at a local bakery before making our way to Piazza della Republica to sit and eat them while we people watched a bit. There’s an old fashioned carousel in the piazza, but it wasn’t open yet so we promised the boys we’d come back later. Then we went to the piazza with the Cathedral Santa Maria di Fiore, which is the super famous cathedral with the red dome that is quintessential in any photograph of Florence. You turn the corner out of a little alley and there it is looming over you. The cathedral is massive and incredibly beautiful with ornately carved walls, statues and doors. It is also built out of pink, green, and white stone which are patterned in intricate detail throughout the building. My favorite part was, when we entered the square, Allison and I were overcome by the scale and grandeur, but when I looked down at Beren, he pointed ahead and exclaimed, “Look a horse!”, almost as if he was oblivious to what was behind the horse. When we got a picture, he wanted to make sure the horse was in it.
We wanted to go in, but we were a little too on the ball this morning and it hadn’t opened yet. Rather than waiting for 30 mins, we decided to move on and return another time. From there we made our way to the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, which is home to another large Cathedral. Here there was some outdoor space and the boys were able to have a bit of freedom which they used to corral a bunch of pigeons into one particular grass area as if they were shepherds and the nasty birds were their sheep. The line for the cathedral was long and you had to buy tickets to see it (lame), so we continued on for now.
Before coming to Florence I did some research on weird or off the beaten path things to see in each of the cities we were visiting using the website Atlas Obscura. If you’ve never used this website, it’s for exactly this purpose. I had found on Atlas Obscura that one of, or possibly, the oldest actively operating pharmacy/perfumery in the world was near this piazza. We sought it out and, from the outside it was a little unassuming, but what was on the inside was amazing and totally unexpected.
You enter the Officina Profumo – Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella through a hallway that’s hanging with flowers and with statues on either side. Down the hallway there is a room covered with frescoes from the 12th century and then it opens up into the main shop with vaulted ceilings, art lined walls, and wooden display cases with various vials of colored liquids. It felt super fancy and smelled fresh and amazing. We began looking around the various rooms of the store, each one decorated differently with old art and pharmacy relics on the walls. We ended up talking with one of the workers who was extremely kind and helpful and she took us through, and allowed us to sample, many of the products, some of which still use the same recipes as when the shop first opened in the year 1221. 1221! Are you kidding me?! I like to imagine Dante working on the Divine Comedy before dabbing himself with the same fragrance of cologne I purchased today and heading out on the town to have dinner with his friends.
After the pharmacy excursion, we went back to the apartment before heading down to grab some gelato and walk along the river to show Allison Ponte Vecchio. This was Allison’s chance to do all the things she was jealous of the boys and I doing yesterday. We walked the beautiful bridge again and by the time we made the rounds, we were hungry again, despite the gelato. We found a place steps from our apartment. It was a small place with delicious sandwiches on focaccia.
Soon enough, it was nap time and, thankfully, after all the walking the boys went right to sleep. I did too. Allison went to work. When the boys woke up we snacked a little more and got ready. They were pumped to go back to the carousel. We made our way to the carousel and saddled our horses for the short ride. The boys enjoyed it. I got my own horse too and when I got off it halfway through to see how they were each doing, Silas yelled at me to get back on my horse.
After our ride, and a quick stop at the supermarket, we came back to the apartment to hang out before the bedtime routine. Silas and I played Mario and I enjoyed the quality time with the little guy. He was jolly and, after the challenges we’ve had in public, it was nice to hang out and laugh together. They went off to sleep pretty easily. I really enjoyed my time with them today and it totally made up for yesterday.
Since Allison was still working and able to listen out for them, I decided to go out and try to find a café to read while enjoying a cocktail. I don’t know if it was because it was a weeknight or offseason or both, but it was weirdly dead. The place I found was more ritzy than I would usually prefer. It was in the same piazza as the carousel and was enclosed from the cold and had easy chairs along the windows. When I arrived, I was the only one there, but it was really pleasant and relaxing. There was a women playing piano and singing and I enjoyed a really good martini and pate while reading Metamorphoses by Ovid.
I am grateful for such a beautiful, fun, and spontaneous day after the challenge of yesterday. I’m hoping tomorrow will follow suit as we explore more and maybe try a museum (do we even dare.)