I woke up a bit sad knowing this was our last day in Florence. Even though it really wasn't my favorite when we first got there, it had really grown on me. My period and the cramping had been so bad that I know it hadn't helped my mood either. But it was our last day and I was ready to make the best of it.
The view from bed was beautiful and I just laid there for a while taking it all in. And although I could have stayed there all morning, I felt we had so much more to see. So jumped up, got dressed and before I knew it we were exploring the Florence streets again. We decided to go back to the beautiful church we saw the day before. Because I needed more pictures. I was still in such awe of how big it was. After our shoot, we found more nooks and crannies of buildings and streets that were just so amazing.
I bet you can guess the next stop we went to? If you haven't seen a pattern yet so far on our entire trip, I am great at sniffing out churches. We stumbled upon a beautiful church called Basilica di San Marco. It was the same reaction every single time we walked into a church. A gasp, then a scan around the bottom of the room and an extended neck bend to look up at the ceiling. Not one church disappointed me. And this one, we had no idea we were about to see some pretty interesting history.
As we walked around, we came to a spot that was dedicated to St. Antoninus. He was made Archbishop (even though it was against his wishes). I wondered what was drawing every ones attention to this specific part of the church. And then it made sense. There he was. His 550 year old mummified body. Lying there, inside a glass coffin for the world to see. He was dressed in his Archbishop garb and it was the most fascinating thing I have ever seen. They say his body was buried in that glass coffin in 1459. People do believe because of how pristine he still looks, some cosmetic touches may have been done over the years.
As creepy as it sounds, I could have stayed there all day looking at this body in this coffin. The fact of how old it was, and everything about the story intrigued me to want to stay and learn more. But our stomachs were saying otherwise. We left the church and found a cute resteraunt down one of the side streets that over looked the GIANT church we fell in love with earlier in the trip. We grabbed a seat outside and enjoyed the view, people watching and food! Hubby had a huge calzone and I had a delicious pizza. It was funny that throughout our whole trip, the gluten and cheese and things I normally cannot eat due to my stomach issues, did not bother me while in Italy. I still fully believe America's food is shit, but that is another topic for another time.
After lunch we decided to cross the beautiful bridge we kept passing. I wanted to know what was on the other side! The hustle and bustle of buildings, shops, restaurants and beautiful views, all lined the other side of that bridge. It was like we were in a totally different location! Honestly, this side felt more like Italy to me and I am not so sure as to why! On our map, yes we were those tourists that used the map ALL the time, there was a place called Piazzale Michelangiolo that I wanted to check out. It was a few miles away, but hey, we had already probably done a thousand miles, what was a few more?
When we got there, there was beautiful stone everywhere. We walked up a small ramp and some stairs and found ourselves some pretty water fountains and falls and a rather beautiful view of Florence. Of course, we noticed more steps and wanted to explore more so we went up the next flight, just to see an even prettier view of Florence. As we stood there in awe taking pictures, we noticed there was another spot where we could go up even higher! We climbed or well really walked up what felt like a huge mountain by this point and came across a huge, parking area, well that's what it looked like. There were tons of people there snapping photos. The panoramic views of Florence from up here, left us speechless. We were so excited because in Venice, we got lucky seeing a beautiful panoramic view of the city. Now, we were getting to see the panoramic view of Florence. Would we will be able to keep the streak up in Rome?
A man on the level below us was playing the violin and it made it feel even more dreamier. I didn't want this moment to end. I took in everything, the smell, the view, the people surrounding me, my emotions and just bottled it up. But it was getting late, and we had a LONG walk back to the hotel. So we took one last look at everything and decided to make our way back. By the time we got back to the hotel, you can definitely say we worked up an appetite from that walk. We took turns resting while each one of us got ready for dinner. Before heading out to find where to go to dinner, we walked up to the roof top to see our pool and the view and then went to our hotel bar for a complimentary glass of champagne! And treats!
If I could tell you one thing I loved about Florence, it would be the sunset. There was something so magical and beautiful about it. I loved it so much that hubby and I sat on the bridge for a good hour and a half so I could capture pictures and fully see it. As much as he loves me, I know he also hated me that whole hour and a half! My boy sure was hungry and here I was making him stand here at a bridge so we can see the sunset. True love! And might I add, it was well worth it. Because the sunset was stunning. And when will we ever really see another Florence sunset? At least not in person anytime soon.
I honestly cannot remember where we ended up eating dinner that night but I do know I had gnocchi and it was delicious! After dinner we stopped at a few favorite spots, took pictures of all the statues I loved and just really tried to enjoy our last night wandering the streets of Florence, taking it all in for one last time. When we got back to the hotel, I couldn't believe how much we had seen of Florence in the matter of 3 days. We had done so much and my heart was full. Our next stop was Rome. And boy, I was BEYOND EXCITED. My final thoughts as I drifted off to sleep were, man I can really go for a cannoli and some gelato right now.