Under the Tuscan Sun

Under the Tuscan Sun:  Mom and I melt like the wicked witch of the west from the Wizard of Oz. You thought LA was hot! Just wait till you get here.

Hi friends!

Today is our second and a half day in Florence and I guess I’ll start off by telling you that we live on the best street ever!!  It’s literally two blocks away from the Uffizi Gallery but that’s not what it makes it special. It literally is like the Rodeo Drive of Florence. There’s only high-end, brand name shops as you walk down and it’s in the height of the season. Now I’m not a big high fashion person, so most of these outfits are rather ridiculous to me, BUT it’s nice to pretend like I’m Beyoncé strutting down the streets of Rodeo Drive and these clothes just aren’t expensive enough for my tastes lol.

This display with the butterflies was so beautiful! I couldn’t help but pose and have Mom snap a bunch of pictures!!

We crossed the river in the morning as we eased our way to the Pitti Palace, home to whichever Duke of Florence that was reigning during the past couple hundred years and, oh my goodness, it was gorgeous!!! Honestly, it’s nothing much to look at from the front. But inside it’s as ornate as can be.

This is a view of the palace from the Boboli Gardens.

Here is a view of one of the many receiving rooms. If you ask me, they all look the same, but the nobles must not have known that or else they would have thrown a fit. There was a room for the Duke to receive ordinary nobles, a different room for high ranking nobles, a separate room for royals etc., you get the picture. Each one was decorated from floor to ceiling just like the Medici Offices.

They even had a room full of knickknacks from the Orient, aptly named the “Oriental Living Room.” It was raining pretty hard at this point so Mom and I killed some time inside with a mini photo shoot. Leave it to us to go to the gardens on a rainy day. As you can see, I had fun playing with the dressing room screen. I almost posed behind it but decided against it, since we still had the other half of the palace and I wasn’t ready to get kicked out just yet hehe.

Downstairs, the Steamy Alpaca met Hercules. He was very famous in this palace and made multiple appearances throughout the estate (Hercules, not the Alpaca).

Possibly my favorite part of the palace were the rooms dedicated to all the jewelry. I’m sure that was my crown in a past lifetime hehehe.

We transitioned outside to stroll the Boboli Gardens as by 11 the rains had stopped and had I not witnessed the downpour myself I would have never believed it ever happened with skies so blue and everything already dry.

Look at the great view of Florence they had! It must have been even better before all those buildings blocking the cathedral were built.

The gardens in and of themselves weren’t that impressive. And the sections that were, were totally blocked off so you couldn’t even enjoy them. It was 100 degrees out, so I hid in this alcove tree space. MAJOR REGRETS. Apparently when you go into nature with all the fallen leaves on the ground there are bugs and I am now sporting 20 red angry bites that have yet to go away. Should have never left the palace.

We escaped the lame gardens to visit the private rooms of the Pitti Palace and boy ,was it worth it. I’m talking silk Damask walls to match the Damask chairs, gold everywhere, and paintings lining the walls with barely any space between them.

Here’s a picture of my throne. Yes, I decided that now I own this palace.

No mirror is too old for a classic millennial selfie, even a 17th century one.

Ever wonder what Napoleon’s bathroom looked like? Apparently he took over this palace for a while and well, here you go. Now I understand why he wore heels! Look at how little the tub is!! Talk about an inferiority complex.

After a lunch where mommy and I ate a WHOLE PIZZA between the two of us (well, Florence pizza has a really think crust so you would think it was hard, but it wasn’t), we crossed back onto our side of the river and headed towards the Santa Maria Novella Cathedral. This time, the outside of the cathedral was just as good as the inside. It was such a pretty setup, I felt like Maria from the Sound of Music and was twirling around the gardens singing “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” Heheheh

Finally I got Mom to take a selfie with me!!! She’s very adamant about not asking strangers to take our picture cuz she thinks they’ll run away with my phone. 1. I’m pretty sure I can outrun them. And 2. Any phone is better than this malfunctioning iPhone 6 😂. It’s totally my fault though, I’m refusing to upgrade on principle.

I decided that maybe I’ll be buried after all, on the condition that I too get a marble statue, mine would be one of a male forever gazing longingly at my bones. And let’s take that swan away and replace it with something a little better, like an ALPACA!

See how beautiful the church is? This picture doesn’t do anything justice but you get the gist.

So much gold!

We ended the day with an AMAZING dinner of ravioli and chicken. I made a list of everything I wanted to eat in Italy and I’m happy to report that I’ve been quite successful thus far. The best thing I’ve eaten? This REAL tiramisu...ugh I can still taste it now. I will never be able to eat another one in the US again after this perfection.

Anyways, more adventures to come....tomorrow I’m going to see Michelangelo's David!!!

Love you lots!

Carolyn