multiple personality

A city with four names...

Ancient: Fiorenza,
Italian: Firenze,
Latin: Florentia,

and for everyone else:

Florence...

Although we visited Florence many years ago, and have very fond memories of the walkable and friendly town, during this two-week visit, we saw other sides to her personality and got to know her a bit more personally...

Like much of Italy in March, Florence was moody and mostly spitting grey.  

While the Major engaged in an intensive language course, Smalls and I donned rain covers and boots to explore quaint lunching areas and gelaterias...  having visited all of the major sights on a previous trip, we were more interested in seeing the more casual and local side of our surroundings.

It was nice to taste a few different flavors.  The cheesy casseroles,  risotto dishes, and polenta offerings were a nice change of pace.

Smalls gets a lesson on how to eat pumpkin risotto.

And, apparently we were ready for some non-italian food palate cleansers... we also found kabobs, Indian food, and we ate at a Mexican restaurant THREE times.  Man, do I miss avocado...

Aside from the culinary detour, there were some more familiar sightings...

A view of the Duomo from the adjacent bell tower.

It boggles the mind what was accomplished architecturally in ancient times...

Duomo floor.  The three-dimensional designs are awesome.

We visit our old friend Amerigo outside of the Uffizi.

Learning to "roar" at the lions around town.

Special treat of a schiuma di latte (milk foam) at the illustrious Gilli Cafe.

And the big people indulged in a bit of cafe as well...

And we discover a new friend, Galileo...

A lovely little museum with a ton of interactivities for kids of all ages...

The little church on the hill by the Piazza San Michelangelo was an unexpected surprise...  inside there were multiple layers, dividing the church population, and creating an intriguing and decadent floor plan...

And then there was gelato...

And more gelato...

Not gonna lie, we did a tour of the "best" gelaterias in town...  At least half-a-dozen...  we (and by we, I mean mostly Smalls), are becoming experts on the stuff.

Finally, we suffer through an infamous Florentine steak...

And indulge in our still new-favorite wine, Morellino di Scansano...

I can say with confidence that Smalls most appreciated the large park on the Arno with never ending tree-lined paths...

As a final coup d'etat, Smalls convinces us that riding the merry-go-round is necessary on several occasions...

As we take a final stroll around the city, we note that there is a quaint grandness to Florence that really lends to her qualification as one of Italy's great cities...

One of the ancient doors to the city.  Now we just need to find the keys...

Before we leave town, we decide to take in just one more major "official" cultural experience - the palazzo vecchio.  We had walked by the building numerous times, once encountering a flag throwing exhibition reminiscent of renaissance reenactments.

Little did we know that among the decadent rooms and unbelievable architecture of the old palace, we would find the desired keys to the city...

Keys to the city.

Finally the ones we carry around daily don't seem quite as humoungous...

Well... sort-of...