Day 8: We don't follow the crowd

We were so hungry when we woke up this morning. We each ate two apples for dinner last night because we couldn't decide what sounded good. Carla, the B&B owner had an amazing spread in the dining room: jam filled croissants, fresh squeezed orange juice, homemade fig and blackberry jam, homemade biscotti, fresh bread (Florentines don't use salt in their bread), hard boulder eggs, fruit and yogurt, AMERICAN COFFEE (I love her!), and tea for Kristi. We practically waddled out of her apartment; we were so full! 

Walking into the city, we were both a little melancholy. Our stomachs were hurting and we were very tired. We put on a big-girl pants though and hiked up the 400+ stairs to the top of the bell tower where we had panoramic views of the city. We toured the duomo, which has the longest nave in Italy, and went through the duomo museum.

Afterwards, we walked across the Pointe Vecchio, which is the famous bridge with fancy jewelry shops on it. Hoping that food would settle our still upset stomachs, we grabbed lunch at a little cafe and walked up into the countryside. The hour walk took us past Galileo's house, a fortress and the original Florence city wall dating back to the Renaissance era. We had little glimpses of the city, but it wasn't until we hiked up to the San Miniato Basilica that we got AMAZING city views. Inside the church, the Olivetani friars, who study there, we're practicing/singing the gospel. No lights were on in the church, only candelabras on either side of the alter. The dim lighting accompanied by the friars haunting hymns made for a beautiful and moving experience. 

From there, we walked down to the Piazzale Michelangelo and grabbed some delicious gelato. Instead of going into more churches, we wandered around and came upon the Florence School of Leather. We were able to walk through the workshops and watch as the masters worked. Kristi was in heaven! She's been talking about a leather jacket since we landed in Italy eight days ago! Their practice and precision was really cool to see. We walked though the Baptistery, but decided to grab an early, bland and healthy dinner as we still weren't feeling 100%. We chose a little pizzaeria close to the duomo, but weren't very impressed with the food; we're missing Monterosso's fresh tomatoes and Verona's amazing pizzas. When we went in to pay, the waiter gave us two free lemon shots. We were a little hesitant to take them, but, since it was only 6:30 and we were heading home, decided it was harmless. The funny thing is that we both felt better afterwards. We stopped by a minimart and got two bottles of water (We think our upset stomachs might be due to the water) and went home. 

We started looking up museum tickets and Pompeii train tickets, but weren't having luck. Feeling defeated and very tired, we asked Carla for help. She told us that all tickets for tomorrow were sold out. She explained that the Uffici and Accedemia workers aren't sure if they want to work tomorrow morning (I'm not kidding), so they might open at 8am, or they might open at 11am. No good for us. We were frustrated and felt even more tired; I think Carla could tell. She disappeared into the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with tea, homemade biscotti and Nutella. It sounds so simple, but it was so sweet! We honestly felt better after out mini tea party.

With a little more energy, we regained some confidence and some computer research thanks to my mom, we decided that we'll head to Accedemia first thing tomorrow and test out luck with last minute, walk up tickets. Fingers crossed!