Florence, Italy: Day One

Duomo

Today we had to get off of the ship wicked early! We left for the airport at 8:00 am, a real hardship for me. I popped a Zofran and figured I would get the Bosulif in me once we arrived in Florence.

I was zonked out before the plane left the runway; less than two hours and we were in Italy. There were no customs to go through and a wheelchair took me directly to a cab, twenty minutes later we were in our fabulous hotel; Martelli Apartments 6, around $75 per night and it is fabulous!!!

King sized bed, table and chairs, an amazing shower, and the greatest window, looking over the greatest pedestrian street that I have ever seen! oh, and there is a fresco painted on the ceiling that is to die for!

We quickly found that the location could not be more perfect. It is right around the corner from the Duomo and within walking distance to everything. We, of course, had to eat but since we had no idea what or where to eat, so we waited until something called our name.

It was a little sandwich type shop with seating outdoors. They had warm blankets on the chairs and heaters above our head; how could we refuse??

yup! Meat hangs everywhere in Italy!

I let the waitress pick my sandwich and Joe chose something different; both were were scrumptious! I also asked for milk, as it seems that when I eat food and drink milk with my Bosulif, it alleviates some of the nausea. When the milk came, it was warm; with sugar! Sooooo, when in Florence...I drank it! lol

I must be more specific from now on; cold milk.

After we ate, we decided to take a stroll across the river, to see what we could see.

We passed the Duomo and several churches (yes, I went inside) a beautiful carousel, many amazing doors and knockers and every fancy shop you could imagine: Gucci, Luis Vuitton, Dolce and Gabbana, Jimmy Choo, etc. Fortunately for me, neither one of us are shoppers or big on name brands, so that certainly saved us some money there. lol

We stumbled down many alleys, and walked into many courtyards, it seems that there will be much to do here during the next three days.

LeeAnn, this ones for you!

One of our favorite finds was a Gelato Shop; they had GINGER Gelato! I know I will be visiting every single day!

We were shocked to see how many people were here during this time of year as their tourist season has not started yet, I cannot imagine what it is like during tourist season! There appeared to be many groups of young kids touring around the city, maybe on Spring Break.

The weather is for us, perfecto! A little cool, but beautiful in the sun.


Finally wearing down, we headed back to our room and the most amazing thing happened. There was a man singing, in English, a Johnny Cash song, "The Ring of Fire" with church bells ringing in the background! Does it get any better than that?

Oh, wait, it does: there is a market, literally right next door! I am in Italian heaven.

We are looking forward to exploring more tomorrow, as tonight we are pooped; Joe has already been snoring for nearly two hours; again!

Time for me to get some sleep.

G'night, all.

Hotel photos:

THIS is the ceiling in OUR bedroom!!

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