Day Three and Four

Monday night after Steve's class we had the evening to ourselves.  It was pouring rain outside, but we didn't let that stop us.  We ventured out to see city.

Right across the street from our hotel building was a massive fabric store.  Fabric stores are the bane of my existence apparently because I can't get away from them.  I took this picture for my sisters and mom.  They would have been slobbering at the chance to get into this "holy grail" of fabric stores.  Even I had to admit the fabric draped in the windows was beyond beautiful...dang fabric.

We walked less than a block from our hotel and found ourselves right in front of the Duomo. 

It was HUGE.  I was there when I was 19, but did not remember the absolute enormity of the building.  It was fantastic to see.  We only had Steve's phone to take pictures due to the rain, but still caught this image of the Duomo lit up at night.  It was a sight to see.

We then went looking for a place to eat.

Luckily we had done our homework (Saintly Steve had done it all), and we knew there was a gluten free restaurant close by.  We walked around the cathedral and found it.  I was excited to try real Italian gluten free food.  It did not disappoint.

Here was the menu...just for me.

I figured I better take a picture before I ate the entire thing.  We ended up eating here all three nights we were in Florence.  Why ruin a good thing? 

Monday night I had a slight breakdown and cried myself to sleep.  I was over tired, not sleeping well, and half a world away from my children.  I was deslusionally homesick.

Steve just looked at me and didn't know what to do.  

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling much better and embarrassed that I let my emotions get out of control.  Pregnancy will do that right?  I did realize, however, that I am a small town girl who longs to be at home where I feel comfortable.  My husband did not marry a world traveler.  (If he wants to be adventurous he will have to do so with his next wife after I expire.)

 Steve had meetings all day Tuesday and I stayed downtown with my friend Alysia.  We shopped, ate and wandered around waiting for our husbands to be done.  I found a little rag doll for Saylor from a cute store ran by a tiny lady that only spoke Italian.  It was fun to be around her.  I also found some toy red Ferrari cars for Colby and Carter. 

Alysia and I then went into the market place and braved the leather peddlers.  (They are hagglers and made me feel like I was getting ripped off no matter what.)  I wanted to find a leather bag for myself, but it seemed to me that everything was too expensive.  I instead bought a little pink purse for Saylor.  The princess was spoiled.

Tuesday night when the menfolk came home (confession, we rode the shuttle up to the meeting and pulled them out when their meetings went long on account of us almost missing the shuttle back to the city) we walked around and looked for suits.  Italian suits are apparently the bomb.  We didn't find one we liked Tuesday night, but decided to keep looking on Wednesday.  It was this night while walking around that Steve got in an elderly Italian lady's way.  She must have come out of a shop because we didn't see her until she was standing directly in front of Steve.  She was tiny...not even five feet tall and she immediately started swinging her purse from side to side and yelling at Steve in Italian.  I couldn't help but stop and laugh out loud.  It was right out of a movie...exactly what you would imagine a tiny little Italian woman to be...feisty.  I loved it!

Steve looking fancy.

After another gluten free dinner we returned to our hotel and once again didn't sleep.  The old lady perfume smell was killing me!

Wednesday morning Steve took me along to a tour of the factory that builds his dental lasers.  It was me, one other wife and whole mess of American dentists.  About 30 minutes into the tour, I started to feel lightheaded and sick.  I asked to sit down and spent the rest of the tour sleeping with  my head on a table in the conference of a laser factory.  Exciting I know.  (take this lightheadedness as foreshadowing of the future...hint hint.)  The tour fed us lunch of pasta (couldn't eat it) and orange and cheese stuffed veal...not my favorite.  The tour then took everyone back into downtown Florence where it was arranged for us take a walking tour of Florence.  We know we should have done it, but we ditched it and decided to look for Steve a suit.  It was a good choice. 

Steve hadn't seen the marketplace or any other part of the city in the daytime, so I walked him around where Alysia and I had been the day before.

This is a picture of the market place.  

We found Steve four ties for 10 euro, me a small leather bag, and all three boys leather wallets. (I think we got fleeced on the wallets.)

More of the marketplace.

We then walked back to the cathedral and admired it in the daytime.

Still massive.  Still amazing.

I could not believe the detail on the exterior- breathtaking.

It was if the baby Jesus was waving hello to the people below.

This picture shows how far back the building reaches.

The doors were fantastic.

But not as famous or fantastic as these doors.  

These sit on the octagonal shaped baptistery that is right across from the cathedral.  They however are not original, but replicas.  The real doors are on display somewhere else and get this, we learned on our laser tour that it was one of the same companies lasers that cleaned the real doors before they were sealed and put on display.

I have picture of me in front of these door from when I was 19.  Steve wasn't enthused about more pictures, so I took one of his back.

The baptistery with the cathedral behind.

We found Steve a suit later in the afternoon.  It's beautiful and I feel we got an amazing deal.

The salesman spoke only broken English, but was super fun and dressed Steve to the hilt.  He had a white shirt, cuff links, shoes and tie...just for effect.  Service like that we have not encountered in the states.  

  After we bought it I could tell Steve felt bad we hadn't found anything for me.  I assured him that I wouldn't fit in anything I would want anyway and not to worry.  He told me about a dress he wanted me to try that he saw in a shop window the night before.   We found the shop, and I agreed the dress was beautiful. I was going to try it on until I saw the price- 3,000 euro.   That's between $3,500-$4,000.

Didn't try the dress on, but got a picture anyway.

My only regret in Florence besides not eating more ice cream and GF pizza, was not taking more pictures.  I'm grateful I at least snagged this one.  This is the front of the Repubblica Square.  Our hotel was just to the right and down the street from this building.

For some crazy reason, I had a fear of looking like a tourist.  Everything we had read said the more American we looked, the more of a target for pick pocketing we would be.  Hence why I DID NOT wear tennis shoes and kept my camer put away most of the time.  I shouldn't have worried.  We were safe and I just needed to chill out.  Everyone had a camera...but you could pick out Americans like ticks on a white sheet.  They had baseball caps, tennis shoes and looked like they had showered in the last 24 hours.   We Americans are a breed all our own.