Ponte Vecchio and Rebel Wilson…

It was hard leaving the quaint canals and bridges of Venice to move on to Florence. However, once we were driving the countryside, Chris and I remembered why we love Tuscany so much! We’d never been to Florence but it doesn’t disappoint. It is magnificent with it’s rich history and grand buildings. We have so far only explored Florence by night because we arrived at 5:00pm yesterday and after settling into our apartment, we went for a walk through the historic centre and a late dinner. Then today we woke and drove to Sienna for the day (LOVE Sienna), returning in time to walk into the centre again and explore new areas. We ate a late dinner outside the Academia Gallery with all of the beautiful sculptures around us and music playing in the background. With 23 degree weather, it was truly a relaxing place to be for this time of year.

It is such a treat having 2 weeks holidays in October, which by the way, seems to be a very civilised idea now that we’re experiencing it. 🙂

We also ran into a famous ‘star’ that Brianna knows from different movies – Rebel Wilson!!! She was walking on a street close to our apartment (with one other lady) and Brianna noticed it was her. No one else was around so Bri felt brave enough to run back after we had passed her, and ask for a photo together. That was exciting and kept the kids buzzing for a while! Chris and I on the other hand get excited about Ponte Vecchio and all of the amazing architecture and history around us. So it was another beautiful evening in Florence!

Tomorrow we meet an old friend for lunch (well, he’s young, but we knew him many years ago). Hugo Cardona was a student in my grade 2 class in 2001 (Switzerland) and he has kept in touch with us since we found each other on Facebook a few years ago. Chris taught his sister and both Cardona’s have messaged Greg and Brianna over the past couple of years. Hugo saw that we were in Florence and he is too, so we arranged to meet! We also hope to go to Pisa and Lucca tomorrow with the car. Keep checking in…Rome is around the corner!