In October we made a return trip to Italy. After a hectic year, it was a much needed, long-in-the-making trip. This time Channing came along—which always makes for a fun adventure—for her first trip to Italy.
We spent about 5 days total, with 3 days in Florence and 2 in Rome—flying in to Pisa and taking the train to Florence and then later taking the high speed train to Rome.
As always, we had grand visions for this holiday—and really enjoyed it. But as always, by the end we were nearly crippled from walking and I, for one, had eaten too much cannoli.
Since I’d already been to and documented Rome in pictures I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself to take pictures. With the ones I did take, I was less concerned about what they showed.
So here’s a collection of photos from the trip. In black and white, cause I’m feeling it and I can do what I want. P.S. You can tap the picture and swipe through if you rather not scroll.
Florence
Central to everything we did in Florence was our visits to and around the cathedral complex, Piazza del Duomo. One of the most stunning buildings I’ve ever seen, the cathedral is incredible both day and night. The outside is so ornate it appeared to be a painting. One day when we were there we climbed Brunelleschi’s dome, skipped climbing the bell tower (we were exhausted from the dome), and explored the baptistry.
Florence if famous for its art and sculpture, of course. This was our main reason for visiting. So we made sure to visit the Galleria dell’Accademia, famous for the statue of David as well as the Uffizi Gallery – both stuffed full of Florentine and Renaissance art.
Return to Rome
We did a whirl-wind tour of Rome hitting all the main sites. I mostly wanted to return to see the Vatican again. Like last time we did an early morning guided tour with early access to the Sistine Chapel. I can’t recommend it enough. The guide took us through the Vatican Museums right at opening time, in fact so early we watched as the guards open the doors and turn on the lights to the chapel.
A special treat this time round, there was a special mass in St. Peter’s Basilica officiated by the Pope himself. So we stuck around and got to see him.
I don’t have a good way to wrap this post up. The way I took the pictures didn’t lend itself to a good story. But hopefully you liked what you saw.
Ciao!
//Blake
