As beautiful as the Amalfi Coast was, I was ready to move on. Drew and I are similar in our traveling style. We start to get kind of restless and, well…bored, when we’re not in larger cities. We love the energy of urban environments – the people watching, the access to cool art, the cafés – and I was so excited to be in Florence.
I have my limits, of course. I crave and NEED downtime. Just wait until we get to Rome. There was plenty of time to enjoy things like beautiful sunsets, and we spent nearly an entire day taking a long walk up the Tuscan hillside, finding ourselves in places where we were the only two people in sight.
I think my favorite place in the “city” part of the city was the Piazza della Repubblica, a lively square in the center of Florence filled with street performers, a carousel, and plenty of shops and cafés.
I became obsessed with one of the street performers – a mime dressed in a long, bright red tulle skirt, white blouse, and feathery white angel wings.
I gave her a Euro and she gave (mimed?) me a flower for my hair and a small paper heart with the phrase, “Love is inside you.”
I loved Florence so much that I vowed to return someday. I’d love to spend at least a month at a Tuscan villa with Drew and Nathaniel – relaxing, exploring the towns and cities at a leisurely pace, cooking (well, Drew probably would do that part), and having friends over for a visit. I’d read real books and spend most of my time unplugged. It sounds like a dream.
I just have to remind myself that dreams can come true.
Next Friday we’re going to my FAVORITE city on the trip – Siena. If you want to catch up on where we’ve been so far, you can see the entire An Italian Honeymoon series here.