Florence and Pisa

We spent the second half of our week in Florence with a quick stop in Pisa. Florence is a great city, and we got to see a lot of cool things (and the food there was AMAZING), but after visiting Cinque Terre I think any city would seem slightly dull in comparison. It would be like the Backstreet Boys following the Beatles in a concert -- still okay, but you would really just be hoping the Beatles would come back out and play instead. :)

Probably the most recognizable sight in Florence is the huge Duomo Cathedral, which is absolutely stunning. The outside of it is completely unique and so detailed, it's difficult to even describe. It's hard to get a picture of the whole thing from close up because it is so big, but here are a couple attempts...

The next well-known thing we got to see was the original David statue by Michelangelo, which is located at the Accademia Museum in Florence. We were both blown away by how massive the David was! I pictured him being a normal human size, but I could not have been more wrong! Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the museum, but there are "fake" David statues all over Florence, so here is one, just to give you an idea.

Florence is actually a much smaller city than I thought it was, and we were able to walk everywhere we went, so we did a lot of wandering. Here is Jord in front of the river that runs through the middle of the city. Leave it to my husband to wear a shirt with a UK flag on it in Italy. :)

In my opinion, the huge highlight in Florence was the food. We had some of the most AMAZING meals while we were there, and it was easy to see how enjoying good food is really a huge part of the Italian culture. I think maybe I was Italian in another life! :)

Also, Florence is known to have the best gelato in the world -- they call it an edible art form -- and it certainly did not disappoint! 

Another neat landmark in Florence is the Ponte Vecchio bridge. This bridge almost looks like an extension of the city since it has buildings and shops built right into it. It is so unique!

Although we've been in Europe for almost 5 months and traveled to quite a few places, I think we finally found the world's smallest car. :)

Our first night in Florence, we decided to hike up to the Piazzale Michelangelo before dinner, which is a hilltop square overlooking all of Florence. The view was beautiful, and it was neat to see how much the Duomo Cathedral stands out in the city's skyline.

We were trying to decide which "dome" was bigger, my head or the Duomo?! :) 

A constant joke between Jordan and I (and a few others) is how big both of our heads are. Yes, I have considered this minor detail in relation to having kids, which just adds one more reason why it scares me to death!!! :)

There was another replica of the David overlooking the square, and the whole city for that matter. It almost seems like the David is Florence's mascot or something. :)

We found someone to take our picture with the view of Florence in the background right before the sun set. 

Our final day in Florence, we were able to go inside the Duomo Cathedral, which was a really awesome experience. The best part was looking up in the huge dome, which is completely covered in biblical paintings.

To see all of our pictures from Florence, click here.

During our time in Florence, we were able to make a quick trip to the city of Pisa. I don't really know why, but I've always wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and since we were so close it seemed silly not to go see it! So we took the quick train trip and walked through the town of Pisa, and got to see the Leaning Tower...

It was actually way cooler to see it in person than both Jordan and I thought it would be. They allow you to climb the Tower all the way to the top, but we opted out of that one -- the Tower is leaning 15 feet off its vertical axis, which just didn't do it for me... no thank you! :)

The Leaning Tower sits right next to a few beautiful religious buildings in Pisa -- they call the whole area the "Field of Miracles." 

I've seen a few of my friends' pictures who have been to Pisa, and I was dying to get a few of the classic "leaning on the Leaning Tower of Pisa" pics. :) It was actually pretty funny because there were dozens of people out in the field in front of the Tower doing this exact same pose! 

So here is Jordan leaning on the Tower...

And here I am leaning against, well, actually pushing over the Tower. :)

This is the beautiful Baptistery building across the field from the Leaning Tower. It was absolutely stunning. You might have noticed that all of the buildings in the Field of Miracles have a similar style and kind of match, which I loved. I think all cities should have matching buildings. :)

Jordan had to go check out the foundation and base of the Tower, of course. :) We actually started to feel bad for the guy who built this since he is famous for building a tower that doesn't stand up straight, which probably didn't do much for his professional reputation!

To see the rest of our pictures from Pisa, click here.

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation in Italy. We had amazing weather the entire time, and the food was absolutely to die for! We have been so impressed with Italy as a whole -- so many neat cities!

We got back to London late Friday afternoon, and have recently started the cleaning and packing process to go home. It has been a little strange to think about leaving our life here, but in the same token we are stoked to see everyone and be back in our real home. :) We fly into Spokane late Wednesday night.

I am going to try to post once more before we leave with a London pros and cons list, and maybe a few other highlights. We'll see... any suggestions?? :)