Show No Fear! DIS Exclusive Viva Italia+DLP TR Sept 2014*COMPLETE* New TR link added 7/3

[khertz]

Everything is really cool to see, but that gelato looks amazing! I want some right now!

As chilly as it is outside, I can honestly say I want some right now too! It's SOOO good!!

I got lost in Florence looking for that boar statue! (We hurried past it on our way to lunch, and I wanted to go back to rub its nose & get a picture). Never did make it back there.

One of the things I loved about the Ponte Vecchio is that I didn't even realize we were on it until we got to the middle where the break in the shops is, and you can see the river! It just feels like another shop-lined street!

Sayhello

Luckily the guides marked it for us on the map, because we ended up going back there (and Venchi ) a couple more times.

That's very true about the Ponte Vecchio! It looks so interesting and distinct from a distance, but when you are on it, it just looks like a row of shops on a nondescript street. So cool how your perspective changes.

Of COURSE you had to stop for a picture! It would be totally wrong if you didn't! Great shot of your entire group.

That gelato looks amazing! I think you picked the perfect combo. Seriously yummy!

What a cool bridge just line with shops. How interesting!

And that boar with his rubbed off nose - neat.

I also noticed there were a lot of naked men in this update!

We made sure to visit the Disney store in EVERY city. It absolutely felt wrong not to!

I tried a few different combos of gelato, but the dark chocolate and caramel was always a winner. So delicious!

There were quite a lot of naked men in Florence, to be honest.

Wonderful pictures of the buildings and statues!!

Yay for finding the Disney store.

The boar statue is great, and what a fun story to go with it.

Yum, that chocolate bar looks amazing!!

I loved how every city we visited seemed to have a place to do some sort of traditional offering (throwing a coin in the Trevi fountain, rubbing the pig's nose and dropping a coin in the grate, etc.) to ensure your return to that particular city.

The chocolate from Venchi was some of the best I have ever tasted. YUM!

Actually, I was thinking that it doesn't look like the whole group is there. Kristy, where was the rest of the group?

Sayhello

I believe the rest of the group was at Louis Vuitton

Laurie

I was going to say shopping! Seems like a safe bet.

I love the boar statue and the tradition behind it.

I'll say it...MMMM Chocolate! Yum all those gelato pics are making my mouth water!

The Ponte Vecchio shops looks so nice! Great pic of the two of you with the bridge in the background.

All those statues are beautiful!

The boar statue was a neat little tradition that we were excited to take part in.

The gelato was one of the best things about Italy, if I am being honest! lol It was always such a nice little treat, and it didn't feel as heavy as eating ice cream. So less guilt too.

Thanks! I liked those pictures of us too. Very picturesque background! Our guides always found us great spots for pictures.

"the fleur de lis is the symbol of Florence, and also Paris, and of course, New Orleans!" And also Quebec.

Disney Stores everywhere.

I think I may need to try Gelato. I honestly have never had it before. Everybody seems to be enjoying it... A LOT!

Oh wow, that bridge looks so cool.

Yes, of course!!

Gotta love getting to visit a Disney store in every city. Even though there wasn't much difference in the merchandise, it was still fun to say we went to them all.

Gelato is the most heavenly creation. I don't even enjoy regular ice cream as much as I used to! Apparently they sell some at our local stores that is supposed to be good, but we haven't gotten any yet.

The bridge was very cool, and DH got a lot of photos of it, especially at night.

Gelato is a really creamy, rich ice cream that comes in all sorts of wonderful flavors. What could be bad?

Sayhello

The answer is...NOTHING!!!

The pig market looks fun - love traditions like that and you can really tell the part that gets rubbed on the statue

I love the idea of the Ponte Vecchio - but not surprised to hear the shops are more expensive there.

Dusty is clearly doing a great job blocking your space ... or trying to hail a ride on a passing boat

Love how there are just amazing statues out and about in the Piazza della Signoria - the The Rape of the Sabine Women looks really phenomenal and interesting how the real one is outside

I loved that we got to take part in a lot of those traditions, like rubbing the nose, throwing a coin in the Trevi fountain, etc. It makes you feel like you're part of the culture for just a brief little moment.

The Ponte Vecchio was very nice to look around, but absolutely way too expensive to buy anything. However, it was cool just to say we walked across such an iconic bridge.

It seemed like out on the streets, Rome was very much about the buildings and architecture, while Florence was ALL about the art! There were statues on display almost everywhere you turned.

The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge not blown up over the Arno river by the Nazis in WW II. It was saved by the U.S. paratroopers. As you notice all the other bridges are in very good shape although built to mimic the previous bridges. Thank God most of the larger Italian cities were spared along with the artwork.

Really, it is just incredible what these cities have survived. So thankful for that so that we can still experience it all!

Just got caught up! I am interested to hear your thoughts on Florence vs. Rome!

The drive sounds very comfortable up there, and the hotel is beautiful! We rented an apartment overlooking the Ponte Vecchio for 3 nights and the location was great. Andrew still uses his leather wallet he got from the pig market!

We also walked up to the Piazza Michelangelo where your bus stopped- that view is incredible!

I will definitely have to do a long wrap up/comparison post at the end. Each city was so unique and offered a completely different experience!

The motor coach was a fantastic way to make the long drive to Florence. The seats were super comfortable! Being so close to the Ponte Vecchio must have been fantastic. Right in the middle of all the action!

Mmmmmm.... chocolate....

Florence looks like a lovely city. I really didn't know a whole lot about Florence, specifically, in relation to the history I know about other cities. I've enjoyed seeing some of it in your TR and I've been listening to the podcast about the trip the past couple of days. They were on Florence on the way in to work this morning, and I heard your name mentioned... congratulations on being a Dis podcast celebrity now.

Of all the cities we visited, I knew the most about Rome and the least about Florence, so it was neat to experience something totally brand new.

Ahh, I was so excited to hear my name mentioned on there by Kevin! We had a great time with the podcast guys, they were all so sweet and welcoming.

 

[sayhello]

Luckily the guides marked it for us on the map, because we ended up going back there (and Venchi ) a couple more times.

The Guides marked it on the map for me, too!!! But I made a wrong turn somewhere, and suddenly nothing matched the map anymore. Maybe they have better maps now. I kept trying to re-orient myself, but the reality just never matched what I saw on the map. I finally just gave up, and worried about getting back to the Piazza di Santa Croce in time for the bus back to the ship. I had plenty of time, so I wasn't *too* worried, but it was a bit stressful, and I didn't enjoy my walk as much as I could have. Fortunately I have a really excellent sense of direction, and knew the general direction I wanted to get back to, but the locals couldn't help me, since I didn't speak Italian, and the map was worthless.

That's very true about the Ponte Vecchio! It looks so interesting and distinct from a distance, but when you are on it, it just looks like a row of shops on a nondescript street. So cool how your perspective changes.

Very true!

I was going to say shopping! Seems like a safe bet.

Sayhello

 

[khertz]

The Guides marked it on the map for me, too!!! But I made a wrong turn somewhere, and suddenly nothing matched the map anymore. Maybe they have better maps now. I kept trying to re-orient myself, but the reality just never matched what I saw on the map. I finally just gave up, and worried about getting back to the Piazza di Santa Croce in time for the bus back to the ship. I had plenty of time, so I wasn't *too* worried, but it was a bit stressful, and I didn't enjoy my walk as much as I could have. Fortunately I have a really excellent sense of direction, and knew the general direction I wanted to get back to, but the locals couldn't help me, since I didn't speak Italian, and the map was worthless.

Very true!



Sayhello

Oh man, I can understand being totally stressed, especially if you had to pay attention to time so closely to get back on the ship! I will say that as far as city maps go, we found Rome to be the easiest to follow, Venice to be the most difficult, with Florence falling somewhere in between.

 

[khertz]

Day 6 Continued: Saturday September 20th

When I left off, we had been outside of the Palazzo Vecchio admiring the works of art on display in the piazza. Now we were ready to head inside and start our VIP tour! We had to go through a security area here as well, and large bags had to be checked and left behind.

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We met a different guide who would be leading us on our private tour of the Palazzo Vecchio, Marta. All along this tour, there were lots of references to the Dan Brown novel, Inferno, as a large part of the action takes place at the Palazzo Vecchio. First up to start our tour, Marta unlocked a small door from the courtyard that is featured in the book for us to enter the palace.

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We went through a narrow walkway and up a set of tight spiral stairs.

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At the top of the staircase


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A Medici lion with a bonus Fleur de Lis!​

We made our way into the Salone dei Cinquecento, or Room of 500, so called because it was built for the Grand Council to convene with its 500 members. Later, it was used for the Grand Duke Cosimo I to hold court. The walls are covered in enormous frescoes depicting battles and victories by Florence over Pisa and Siena.

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The ceiling


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I don’t remember a lot of specifics about the battles depicted, but there was one that Marta told us depicts an epic victory, but really in that battle only one soldier had died, and it had been from a fall off of his horse. Not the impressive battle raging in the fresco!

Also, I noted that Leonardo had started work on some of the frescoes, but they weren’t drying fast enough for his liking, so he tried to speed up the process with fire and only succeeded in melting the paint right off of the walls. Michelangelo was also supposed to paint some of the walls, but before he could start work, he was commissioned to start the Sistine Chapel instead.

As you can see, there was some kind of awards ceremony going on, so we were in the very back of the room. As we were standing around listening to Marta, every time the people at the ceremony would clap, Marco would wave his hand in their direction and thank them for their applause. Love him!

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There is a small room off to the side in the back without windows called the Studiolo or small study of Francesco I. We could only go in a few at a time, as it was VERY small, and it was covered in paintings, stuccos, and sculptures. There are also hidden cupboards behind some of the paintings.

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I may have been trying to sneak into a hidden cupboard!


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After going up this staircase, we were in the passageway along the back of the Room of 500 and able to look down on all the action from above.

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We continued our tour, which led us through several rooms more beautiful and extravagant than the last. Most of them were dedicated to Cosimo’s wife.

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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 6 Continued: Saturday September 20th

Finally, we got to something we had all been looking forward to…the secret passageway that is home to Dante’s death mask! This is another element featured prominently in Inferno, which was pretty cool to see. Even AFTER finding out that it too is just a replica!

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Hidden Mickey!


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I need this at my house! Preferably in black & gold.


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Then we entered the Hall of Geographical Maps, a large room covered in, you guessed it, maps! There was also a huge globe in the center of the room.

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Another big part of the novel Inferno is when Robert Langdon enters a secret passageway behind the map of Armenia. And we got to do the same thing! Here is Marta opening the passageway for us. We got a lot of interested looks from other visitors as they saw us entering here!

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Overlooking the palace rooftops from the secret passageway

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Into another secret chamber​

We entered the secret room used by Bianca, wife of Francesco (son of Cosimo). The story goes that the two of them met and fell in love while they were each married to someone else. Conveniently, their spouses each had an “accident” and died, which left them free to marry each other. The room houses a spy window overlooking the Room of 500 so Bianca could watch over her husband as he held court.

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That was the point where Marta was starting to lose a lot of folks with her monotone way of telling stories, but it was a cool room nonetheless. That was the end of the secret passageway part of the tour.

Next, we were given the option to climb to the top of the bell tower. Because it is a small space up there, they regulate how many people can go up at once by handing out timed tickets. I really didn’t want to do it because I didn’t think I could handle another 200+ step climb after making a similar one the day before in Orvieto, but then I didn’t want to miss out on a spectacular view either. Luckily, we had about 15 minutes before our timed tickets came due, so we had time to sit on some couches in a little waiting room to prepare ourselves physically AND mentally! When it was time, a small group of us started up the steps.

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Halfway up​

Just when I thought my legs were going to give out and I couldn’t climb one more step, we made it to the top!

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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 6 Continued: Saturday September 20th

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The brave few who went to the top!


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Harnessing my inner Katniss Everdeen at an archer’s window on the way down.​

After we got down, we were off for some time on our own to get lunch and walk around. We had a couple of hours before we would be meeting up again to visit the Accademia. We were getting hungry, so we kept alert as we walked to find something we were in the mood for. First up, we stopped in this church.

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DH was not finding anything that interested him, but I was getting hungry enough that I didn’t really care what I ate at that point. We stopped in this little place called Caffe Michelangelo so I could pick up a sandwich.

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I didn’t really know what I wanted, but the focaccia bread looked delicious, and the man working the counter said he had some fresh roast beef in the back that he could put on it for me. That sounded good, so I told him to dress it the way he thought it should be made. It was delicious! And easy to carry around with us while I ate.

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Eventually in our walking, we of course ended up here!

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I was hoping for some city specific merchandise here for DS, but they only had the same shirt that we had gotten him in Rome but with Firenze on the bottom and nothing else really related to Florence.

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We went back to the pig market to look around since we hadn’t had much time to do so earlier. I saw a fleur de lis decorative plate I liked, but DH wasn’t crazy about it and neither of us was sure where we would display it, so we didn’t buy anything there. Instead, we ended up inside of the church Orsanmichele.

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We started walking back towards the meeting place in front of the Duomo after that, and ran into Pete & Dustin, who also hadn’t eaten yet. So we went with them to a little pizzeria near the Duomo so the two of them and DH could eat something. It was nice to hang out and talk with them, but we were all a little too antsy because we were cutting it close to the meeting time. They all scarfed their pizza down and we hurried over to meet the family right on time.

Dusty had gone a little crazy at the Disney store on the Planes merchandise!

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Once everyone arrived at the meeting point, it was time to head over to the Accademia to see one of the most impressive works of art of all time!

UP NEXT: Meeting David

 

[Dugette]

Wow, all those pictures inside the palace are so amazing to look at that they don't even seem real. I love that you found a hidden Mickey!

Exploring the secret passageways looks fun!

Anytime there is a staircase with a view, I have to push through the leg burn and see it - almost always worth it (most recently Diamond Head in Hawaii). Glad you made it and got to take all that in!

 

[rdkeim]

So happy I found your Italy trip report! I've followed all your Disney trips but am mainly a lurker. I feel like I'm touring Italy right along with you! Your visit to St. Peters was very touching. ALL your pictures are amazing! We're taking a trip for our 35th wedding anniversary and it was between Italy and an Alaskan cruise/land tour. My husband had his heart set on Alaska so that's what we're going with. I'm sure it will be wonderful. But, reading your TR makes me want to go to Italy - someday.....

 

[MEK]

Once again - the view from the bell tower is incredible, There sheer number of houses and buildings below is almost overwhelming. I bet you're glad you decided to go up.

What an incredible building to visit. I wish I could think of some more intelligent comments but I just get distracted by the beauty of the buildings you are visiting and then I can't remember what I just read. Sheesh!

I don't think I would do well with a monotone tour guide. Not good!

 

[carpenta]

So happy I found your Italy trip report! I've followed all your Disney trips but am mainly a lurker. I feel like I'm touring Italy right along with you! Your visit to St. Peters was very touching. ALL your pictures are amazing! We're taking a trip for our 35th wedding anniversary and it was between Italy and an Alaskan cruise/land tour. My husband had his heart set on Alaska so that's what we're going with. I'm sure it will be wonderful. But, reading your TR makes me want to go to Italy - someday.....

been to both and Italy hands down.....we loved it so much we have been back five times.

 

[Imagineer5]

Beautiful - glad you decided to climb up the tower. The tour sounds really great with how much you were able to see. I think I need to finally read Inferno lol!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oooh, that initial walkway look like I might feel a little claustrophobic.

The whole concept of a death mask is both fascinating and unsettling all at the same time.

WOW. Great catch on the Hidden Mickey!!

Haha, I guess the secret passageway isn't so secret anymore. That is really cool though.

Wow, those views from the Bell Tower. Amazing!!

I just realized that so much Italian sounds very Harry Potter-ish.

 

[sayhello]

Wow! I had no idea the Palazzo Vecchio was so spectacular! Really amazing. DEFINITELY on my list for when I go back! And the view from the tower - totally breathtaking!

Sayhello

 

[missangelalexis]

The 200+ step climb must have been brutal! But it seems like it was worth, the view is breathtaking!

Love the paintings in the Disney store, so cute!

 

[khertz]

Wow, all those pictures inside the palace are so amazing to look at that they don't even seem real. I love that you found a hidden Mickey!

Exploring the secret passageways looks fun!

Anytime there is a staircase with a view, I have to push through the leg burn and see it - almost always worth it (most recently Diamond Head in Hawaii). Glad you made it and got to take all that in!

It was stimulation overload in there, but absolutely beautiful. DH made fun of me for pointing out that hidden Mickey and insisting on a picture, but I just couldn't pass that up!

Oh my gosh, Diamond Head was my first experience in nauseating hikes, especially up those huge staircases! Ever since making it to the top of there a few years ago, I just can't pass up the promise of a beautiful view even if the climb there seems nearly impossible. Thank goodness it's so much easier going back down!!!

So happy I found your Italy trip report! I've followed all your Disney trips but am mainly a lurker. I feel like I'm touring Italy right along with you! Your visit to St. Peters was very touching. ALL your pictures are amazing! We're taking a trip for our 35th wedding anniversary and it was between Italy and an Alaskan cruise/land tour. My husband had his heart set on Alaska so that's what we're going with. I'm sure it will be wonderful. But, reading your TR makes me want to go to Italy - someday.....

I'm glad you found me! I definitely want to visit Alaska for myself one day, but Italy was absolutely the bigger draw for me. I'm so glad we were able to take this trip now, and I sincerely hope you are able to get there someday too. It's one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life, after getting married and having my son! Send your DH over here to the TR, it might make him decide to put Alaska off for a bit longer and try Italy first!

Once again - the view from the bell tower is incredible, There sheer number of houses and buildings below is almost overwhelming. I bet you're glad you decided to go up.

What an incredible building to visit. I wish I could think of some more intelligent comments but I just get distracted by the beauty of the buildings you are visiting and then I can't remember what I just read. Sheesh!

I don't think I would do well with a monotone tour guide. Not good!

Once making it up there, I was definitely glad I had decided to make the climb. The view was breathtaking! It's hard to comprehend from the ground how densely packed Florence is.

No worries, I found it so overwhelming that I had a hard time keeping up with notes sometimes, though I did the best I could and I supplement with Wikipedia when needed. I really wish I could have just videod the entire trip and had all of the wealth of information the step-on guides gave us in each city to refer to whenever I wanted. There is just SO much history, it's impossible to remember it all as a tourist!

Yeah, she was not the best, but I still really enjoyed the VIP tour. It was kind of funny to see so many people giving us looks as we went in through the map room entrance and wondering how we were getting to do that when they weren't.

Beautiful - glad you decided to climb up the tower. The tour sounds really great with how much you were able to see. I think I need to finally read Inferno lol!

I read Inferno when it first came out, and I was kicking myself for not reading it again right before the trip. There is so much of Florence in that book that I couldn't picture reading it the first time having never been there. Now I guess I'll have to go back and read it again.

Oooh, that initial walkway look like I might feel a little claustrophobic.

The whole concept of a death mask is both fascinating and unsettling all at the same time.

WOW. Great catch on the Hidden Mickey!!

Haha, I guess the secret passageway isn't so secret anymore. That is really cool though.

Wow, those views from the Bell Tower. Amazing!!

I just realized that so much Italian sounds very Harry Potter-ish.

It was EXTREMELY tight going up that staircase! A little disorienting too because it was such a tight, narrow spiral. I was grateful to get to the top, that's for sure.

The death mask is definitely weird but cool. It's an interesting way to preserve the past, I guess?

DH gave me such a hard time for that, but I mean, REALLY??? You find a hidden Mickey in Florence and DON'T take a picture? Blasphemous!

The look on people's faces when our guide opened up that map to reveal the passageway was incredible. I don't think any of them knew it was there!

The view was amazing, and absolutely worth the intense leg burn.

Wow! I had no idea the Palazzo Vecchio was so spectacular! Really amazing. DEFINITELY on my list for when I go back! And the view from the tower - totally breathtaking!

Sayhello

It was a beautiful palace, and I loved that we really got to explore the depths of it and not just the rooms open to the public. It was a great tour!

The 200+ step climb must have been brutal! But it seems like it was worth, the view is breathtaking!

Love the paintings in the Disney store, so cute!

It was awful at the time, but so worth it for that amazing view!

We quickly learned that the Disney stores are pretty much your run of the mill Disney store found at malls across America, but it was still so fun to go in and just see the Italian touches they had added in their decorating.

 

[KelleyK75]

I feel like I repeat myself a lot with my comments on this TR, but every update I think Wow, what beautiful architecture and pictures. Love the Italian touches in the Disney store. And how fun for Dusty to find so much with the Dusty character. We love Planes.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I'm loving the detail about the Palazzo Vecchio! This was the morning I kind of hit a wall and ended up hanging out in the piazza with some other adventurers. I just needed to sit down! I was sorry that I missed some of the Inferno details, so it's nice to see them here!

Laurie

 

[khertz]

I feel like I repeat myself a lot with my comments on this TR, but every update I think Wow, what beautiful architecture and pictures. Love the Italian touches in the Disney store. And how fun for Dusty to find so much with the Dusty character. We love Planes.

I totally understand, that's exactly how I felt during the entire trip as we walked around each city! DS is a HUGE fan of Planes, so it was pretty funny to end up with a guide named Dusty who loved taking advantage of Dusty Crophopper merchandise. DS got a big kick out of it when we told him our guide's name was Dusty!

I'm loving the detail about the Palazzo Vecchio! This was the morning I kind of hit a wall and ended up hanging out in the piazza with some other adventurers. I just needed to sit down! I was sorry that I missed some of the Inferno details, so it's nice to see them here!

Laurie

It was definitely a lot of walking on that trip. My feet start to ache a little thinking about it! The Palazzo Vecchio was a very interesting tour, and it was really cool to see a lot of the places where the action of Inferno happened.

 

[khertz]

Day 6 Continued: Saturday September 20th

We walked over to the Accademia and past the enormous line of people waiting to get in. We did have to wait a few minutes ourselves for Elena to run in and get the tickets. Usually they get them the day before, but because of the ice storm, they had been unable to get them in advance for us. Talk about a small world. While we were standing there waiting, Marco sees a guy walking down the street that he knew back from doing the International Program at Disney when they had worked at Alfredo’s together!

Eventually, we made it inside and into the first gallery where there were a few paintings and the replica of the Rape of the Sabine Women statue.

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Then, we turned a corner and down the hallway leading to the David, there were some of Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures.

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But then, it was time for what we were all really there for. The David! I believe it was only pretty recently that they started letting people take photos of it, so no sneaky pics needed here, thank goodness! DH took about a hundred photos of this piece, but I painstakingly chose a few to share with you. It was hard to choose!

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06-265 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


06-267 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

I can’t even tell you how incredible it is to see this work of beauty in person! It is absolutely breathtaking. Again, there’s just no way to describe accurately what it’s like to see something with your own two eyes after seeing it in photos and textbooks.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it…

ABD 06-283 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

After getting our fill of the David, we walked through a couple more rooms before making it to the gift shop.

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 6 Continued: Saturday September 20th

06-268 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


06-269 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Once in the gift shop, we found a small Christmas ornament with a fleur de lis on it that we bought. Since we were being sent out on our own for the evening, instead of having a concierge table at the hotel for suggestions from the guides, they hung around there for whoever needed them. Dusty gave us a dinner recommendation for dinner that he told us would completely made up for the poor food quality we had experienced at Royal in Rome.

The first thing we needed to do for the evening was head to Mass. I was kind of intrigued by the idea of attending Mass in Italian, but it just so happened that we had the evening on our own and the Duomo had a 5 pm Mass in English. So we walked over there first. We entered on the side of the church and there was a marked walkway over to the chapel where Mass would be held.

06-271 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We took our seats in the pretty full chapel and just had to laugh at the completely oblivious woman walking around snapping pictures on her iPad until one of the security guards came to let her know she had to leave the area if she wasn’t there for Mass. It was like she turned around and saw us all sitting there for the first time, and she hurried off.

There was something kind of exciting about attending Mass in such an old and amazing cathedral in Florence. Definitely an experience I never could have imagined having! Once Mass was over, we were able to take a few photos. I think you have to pay to go inside as a tourist unless you are going for Mass, so it was kind of like a little sneak peek.

06-272 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


06-274 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


06-275 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We had some time to kill once we left there before the restaurant we were heading to open for dinner at 7 pm, so we went back to the Disney store. Even though it wasn’t Florence-specific, having seen Dusty earlier with all his Dusty Crophopper stuff made us want to go back and get something for DS. We ended up getting him this stuffed Dusty.

06-276 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We spent the rest of the hour wandering around in and out of shops before finally ending up at our destination for the night, Acqua al 2. Spoiler alert: this was the best meal of our trip, possibly the best meal of my entire life!

06-278 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


06-279 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

It was a tiny little place, and we were seated in the back room where there were only a few tables. We were back in the corner kind of by ourselves, which was really nice, but the restaurant, and that room filled up quickly. Apparently, it’s a good place to have reservations for, but since we were there so early, we didn’t have one and it wasn’t a problem.

First up, we were brought a platter of bruschetta along with a bowl of tomatoes, and one that I think might have been paté, but I really have no idea. I just know it tasted good!

06-282 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The menu here was entirely in Italian, which was a little intimidating. But our waitress was willing to help us translate, and Dusty had given us some direction on what to order. We ended up going with his suggestions, and it didn’t steer us wrong! He had suggested the pasta tasting where they bring out 5 different types of pasta to try. He thought we would both have to order a tasting, but the waitress said we could order just one to share.

The pastas began coming out soon enough, and they were perfectly paced! We had just enough time to try each one and rave about how delicious it was before the next one came out.

06-283 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
First up, a large noodle pasta in a broccoli sauce​

Our second pasta was bowties in a zucchini sauce which is unfortunately the only one we forgot to get a photo of. Neither of us are fans of zucchini, but for me, Show No Fear meant more than just crossing Roman streets, it also meant showing no fear with the food! I tried so many things I wouldn’t normally want to eat on this trip, but especially this meal!

06-284 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Macaroni in a vodka tomato sauce


06-285 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Gnocchi in vegetable ragout


06-286 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Long tube pasta in eggplant sauce​

Every one of these pastas was SO good! There wasn’t a single one that we didn’t scrape the plate for. And I really don’t think any one of them would have been something I would have thought to order a whole plate of from the menu. Once we were done, we said we maybe should have each ordered a tasting to be able to try even more pastas!

For our main course, we again went with Dusty’s suggestion and both ordered the balsamic steaks. When these came out, I couldn’t believe what huge cuts of filet they were! And they were drowning in balsamic, which I thought might be too much. I was starting to second guess my choice. Until I took the first bite!

06-287 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Oh. My. Gosh. Honestly, the BEST meal I have ever eaten! Every single bite was so delicious! The best part about the menu is that you can order tastings of every course: salads, antipasti, pasta, mains, desserts, etc. We were talking about possibly doing the dessert tasting after, but we were stuffed after all that pasta and steak. Such an amazing meal!

We walked back to the hotel along the Arno River, gushing about how happy we were that we had not only decided to take this trip, but that we had been lucky enough to join this particular DIS Exclusive departure and how much fun we were having.

Once we got back to the room, we took a few minutes to Skype with DS before showering and getting to bed. We had another full day of fun in Florence with a side trip to Pisa ahead of us!

UP NEXT: The Uffizi Gallery