Singinalot's 2023 Land Trip to Istanbul, Cappadocia, Rome, Amalfi Coast, & Florence

[Guest]

we made it back to the Duomo n frankly, I was hangry. Did someone say pasta?! and people watching?!

 

there were definitely plenty of people for the watching! It wasn’t overwhelming though. Unless you were standing in that line, I’m sure.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

It doesn’t get much better than this

 

 

 

this might be one of my fav pics I took. It just didn’t even look real.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

 

 

[Guest]

What do you do after eating a delightful cacio e pepe next to the Duomo?

eat more food of course!

Thanks to @A&L_Ont Nate had his sights on a sandwich.

 

While he waited in line, I went and grabbed a glass of wine and buffalo mozzarella.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

The Museo Di Palazzo Vecchio charges an entrance fee, but the bottom floor is free to explore. Guess what we did?!

 

 

 

 

definitely worth the walk around! It’s so beautiful and intricate

 

 

 

 

 

I was just really impressed by this statue..in case you can’t tell by the multiple pics 🤣

 

 

[Coralc]

Oh. The Lion has the head in his mouth. That is very unique! ☺️

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Coralc said:

Oh. The Lion has the head in his mouth. That is very unique! ☺️

 

right? Idk why but I found it so interesting

[Coralc]

I think so too! I was describing it to Bill. It is really interesting. It is like Roman satire or something? ☺️

Edited September 17, 2023 by Coralc

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Coralc said:

I think so too! I was describing it to Bill. It is really interesting. It is like Roman satire or something? ☺️

 

ok I was intrigued by this so just uploaded the photo google images and found this site:

https://www.sculptures.it/news/pieta-2021-francesco-vezzoli-florence.html

[Guest]

After walking through the free portion, we made our way through the Firenze streets. So many beautiful buildings to look at.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

We arrived at Piazza Santa Croce, vastly different, and far more quiet than the Duomo Center.

 

 

once again, the details are astounding

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

 

Myself and several other ladies in line were asked to wear a provided robe to go inside. 

[Guest]

To say that it is stunning inside is an understatement. Even Nate was taken aback. It’s incredible. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Time for some gelato and a hugo spritz!

 

 

[Guest]

At that point, we were into the afternoon. A friend had recommended a steak restaurant for dinner (florentine steaks are famous), but we had several hours to go. Our return to Rome was the only train tickets I hadn’t booked in advance. i wanted to leave it open in case we decided to stay late in Florence.

 

We walked and snacked and ended back in the center. Did someone say more snacks and people watching?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

We decided to go ahead and catch the next train back to Rome.

 

 

once again, when you go to your track, just look for the ride signs above that have your coach number

 

 

[Guest]

once again we arrived at golden hour 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Crystal, what prompted you to go back to Rome early, rather than stay in Florence until the lights came on and the tourist buses leave, enjoying that massive over the top Florentine steak you had imagined? How long were you in Florence for?

Any regrets at going back early?

 

Norris

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

Crystal, what prompted you to go back to Rome early, rather than stay in Florence until the lights came on and the tourist buses leave, enjoying that massive over the top Florentine steak you had imagined? How long were you in Florence for?

Any regrets at going back early?

 

Norris

 

 

oh good question. I did not do a good job of explaining that. As we were deciding, we had already walked around 13 miles. We weren’t feeling up to much more and didn’t want to waste time for the sake of wasting time. We decided we’d much rather have dinner by the Pantheon and thus the decision was made 😊

[Guest]

We walked from Roma Termini to the piazza della rotunda, home of the Pantheon and our hotel. 

This was the mileage walked by the time we got there at 8:40pm

 

 

[Guest]

The perfect dinner spent in our favorite piazza, listening to performers, a cool breeze, house wine, and pasta 🥰 Each evening we talked about our favorite things of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

My first meal is Rome is always spaghetti alla carbonara! It's often my second then I hit the veal saltimbocca. Simple foods, minimum ingredients ( no chocolate chips or fried eggs added) maximum flavor. Good bottle of wine at a reasonable price. Warm night air, Italian voices, somebody singing, a guitar or violin playing. That all comes to me with your prosciutto photo!

Norris

[Ozark_Kid]

5 hours ago, singinalot said:

To say that it is stunning inside is an understatement. Even Nate was taken aback. It’s incredible. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As big and detailed this place is,  I wonder how long it took to build this place.