As kids at home in San Jose return home from their first day of school, a fresh start, a new year, I am catching up on capturing the final two cities and the winding down of our month+ long European Tour. We still have a few days left but I am way behind . . .

A woman once called Firenze, also known as Florence, an open air museum because everywhere you stroll, you find something beautiful, historic and artistic. From a replica of La Pieta on a corner of a building, to a quaint, decorative church nestled in between shops on a small alley. Beauty is everywhere. The Renaissance is everywhere.

While we spent a quick, whirlwind 3 days in Firenze, we all said we could have spent a week or more amidst it’s beauty and charm. It truly is a strollable city, where you knowingly get lost along cobblestone alleys and stumble upon little gems, be it a leather shop, jewelry shop or amazing door to a building.

We arrived and headed straight for La Accademia to see the one, the only, David! I forgot how he completely takes your breath away when you turn the corner into the gallery. He stands there, alone, 14 feet high, in all his glory.

The kids were fascinated with him. Fascinated by how real he looked, from the veins in his arms, the enormity of his hands, the details of the sling shot slung over his back. We all walked around him several times, taking in and observing the sheer genius of Michelangelo. It was also a great lesson for the kids as seeing David brought the biblical story of he and Goliath to life for them. Wyatt also didn’t mention anything about him being naked (ha!) so I guess that means he’s embracing the art!

After yet another record breaking day of heat, Beebs and I cruised around late night and picked up sandwiches from All’Antico Vinaio which was voted the best street food and sandwich in Italy by Saveur magazine! We watched the guys slice the meat, made to order, and each cracked a Peroni while they assembled the sandwiches. The two of us, along with Joe and Scott had a bedroom picnic and savored them with a bottle of Chianti. Yum-o!

We jumped on the hop on / hop off bus around the outskirts of Florence, which got us up into the hills to provide a different perspective on the city, and also allowed us to rest our weary legs and feet. Oh and how did I forget to mention, to avoid the record breaking 100 degree heat! OMG, I swear the heat is following us or we’re bringing it with us, not sure which! Ha! The kids loved taking a bath at night to rinse off all of the heat, sweat and stickiness; quite a view from their sunken paradise!

We loved the views of the city from Piazza Michelangelo and were awestruck by the lush greenery and city villas high up on the hill.

After eating so much delicious Italian food and more gelato than I’d like to admit, we decided that we wanted to get our hands dirty and learn how to make it ourselves . . . So we did! We had an absolute blast with Emanuel, his quirky personality, hard-fast rules on what makes a pizza and what doesn’t, (hint: no salt in the tomato sauce and no garlic in the dough, just to name a few) and most importantly learned about the criticality of the “slap!”

A trip to Firenze would also not be complete without staring in awe at the Duomo and enjoying all the happenings in the square surrounding it. We ate some gelato (go figure), appreciated and purchased some beautiful art, ate candy and drank fancy cocktails at Gilli’s and rode another merry go round!

Our last stop was to the Ponte Vecchio to admire all of the beautiful jewelry and to get Mom the one thing she really wanted from Italy, a gold Miraculous Madonna medal. We found the perfect one for her after much searching and also got the boys crosses and a small guardian angel medal for Tessa, just like their Dad got 25 years ago in Florence.

The visit was too short and made us long for more time, but I know we’ll be back when the kids are old enough and have taken a few art history classes, both keys to appreciating the truly magnificent art, sculpture and history that is at the heart of the city and what continues to make it such a important place in our global community and a beacon of culture.

Off to Roma!