Traveling to Florence went much smoother! I actually had tickets for and got on the right train! I could hardly wait to arrive in Florence. Not only because I heard it was an incredible city to visit but also because we were meeting my sister Hanna and her husband Ken there.

When we arrived, Hanna and Ken were sitting at an outdoor bar right next to our Airbnb. It was so fun to see them there! We quickly went upstairs and unloaded our bags and joined them for a night out on the town. Hanna and Ken had heard about a local restaurant that served true Florentine food. It was delicious and a great way to kick off our time in Florence.

The next day we all went to the Accademia Galleria to see Michelangelo’s David. Awestruck! Absolutely some thing I will remember forever. We spent a really good amount of time there looking at the masterpiece from many different angles. On a sidenote, we also happen to see Julia Garner (the star of The Netflix movie, Inventing Anna) at this museum enjoying David as much as we were.

We spent a lot of time around the beautiful Duomo. We climbed over 400 stairs to reach the top of the campanile and see amazing views of the city. We went into the Baptistry and Hanna even enjoyed the view of the dome from the floor!! I also toured the Duomo museum and fell in love with a replica of another piece of Michelangelo’s. Can’t wait to see the real piece in Rome.

Two the most memorable things we did in Florence besides seeing the beautiful artwork were, going on a gelato tour with a local and also spending an evening at one of her favorite restaurants with her.Our gelato tour guide’s family has lived in Florence for over 200 years. She gave us such a unique perspective of the city and how the people lived there. Laura was very proud of her heritage and her city. At times she could be almost snobbish (especially when comparing ice cream and gelato:)) but we loved her anyways! So much so that we asked her to join us for our last night in town. She picked the place and ordered a great amount of local foods for us to enjoy. She even told us stories about the different dishes. Such a unique and beautiful way to end our time in this enchanting city.