July 3: Florence, Italy
Well, I did not want to dismember this bus driver. That is a big improvement from yesterday. In fact, she was sort of like a stern school teacher who told us that if we were not on the bus at the meeting time, she WOULD be leaving us. Yes! I love this woman! Not a big sense of humor on Ms. Isabella but she don't take s*$t from anyone! As Riley said, "Fall behind, left behind... am I right mom?" Yes. Yes you are.
We had an hour and a half ride from the port of Livorno to Florence where Isabella and her "lollipop" (that is what they actually call that STUPID sign that I always make fun of that the tour guides hold up.... Yes. I AM that tourist now... hanging my head in shame but VERY aware of where said lollipop is at any moment!) left us to our own devices for TWO AND A HALF HOURS. In Florence. Okay. This will not be a marathon day, it will be a sprint... in the sun... speaking little Italian... with 10 people... did I mention that it was FREAKIN' hot????
We managed to see St. Croce (gelato stop), Ponte Vecchio bridge (lunch and vino stop) and many many statues with strangely small "private parts" according to my boys. I almost launched into a short (but valuable!) lecture on art history and the perception of large penises in sculpture back then and the different ideas on why almost all statues from this time period had the same "modest" proportions... but figured why prolong ANY discussion about penises with my children? It would only end with frustration for me because all they would do is make jokes and create new and even more outlandish reasons for the tiny things. Let's move on to the gelato again, okay boys? Yes!
I truly think the best part of the day was at our lunch. We were at a cool pizzeria down a small alley near the Ponte Vecchio. It was really busy and there was only one waiter. We happened to be seated near his prep station. At one point he came running back, poured a water glass full of wine, slammed it down in one gulp and took off again for the next table! We were very impressed. That is how we do "coffee breaks" in Italy! Oh. Yeh!
We made it back to the bus for the trip back to the ship and everyone one the bus must have come down with Italian sleeping sickness because I have several photos of the entire back of the bus catching flies and making scary noises.
We are off to Rome tomorrow which will be awesome but at the mention of the phrase "bus tour" my children have started developing twitches and emitting undesirable whining sounds. I think they are reaching maximum capacity for all day sight seeing trips. Let's hope they make it through Rome... in a day! No pressure!
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