Pompei

Oh Pompei.  Did I ever tell you it has been a dream of mine to visit this place my whole life?  Ever since I learned the history of the city frozen in time, I had to see it.  So, Husband and I made a quick detour from Florence, on our way to the Amalfi Coast.  We actually spent a night in Pompei, to give us more time to explore the ruins, which really takes at least an entire day.  We could and should have spent more time there, but truth be told, it was so ridiculously hot.  I don't recommend doing Italy in the summertime if you plan to hit all the tourist spots.  But, you make do.  
I loved Pompei, it was really quite fascinating.  But I had one disappointment.  And this is entirely morbid of me, but I really expected to see more casts of bodies.  You know, the dogs, the pregnant mothers, the people covering their faces.  So morbid!  I know.  But growing up, I saw all of this stuff in books.  And I don't know if we just didn't hit the right spots, because the ancient city is actually very big on foot - or maybe they're somewhere else.  I don't know.
I think the most surprising thing to learn was how similar the ancient Romans were to us.  In reality, human kind has evolved, but in many ways, thousands of years later, we are very much the same.  I mean, these people had day spas with hot tubs!  And fast food joints, bars, bakeries, theaters, plumbing (granted it was lead plumbing).  And not only did they have many modern day conveniences, but everything was so intricately constructed with the marble, brick, columns and painted frescoes.  I can only imagine how beautiful this place was back in it's heyday.  It's such a tourist's playground now, but in reality, the ancient ruins of Pompei are actually a grave site to a once bustling city, and all those who perished there.

Firenze in Photos

Live music on the Ponte Vecchio.

Firenze and her moon.

Walking the old streets at night.

Michelangelo's David. A true Renaissance man.

The Duomo.

Florence, to me, is the epitome of Italy.  It was definitely one of my favorite spots, yet, I can't decide if I liked it more than Rome.  Maybe.  But I am unwilling to commit to that statement.  You see, they just have very different vibes.  In Rome, you experience ancient times, but in Florence, you see the Renaissance, which makes Florence nothing short of magical.  From the narrow streets, to the arched bridges, to the Arno River, the culture, and art.  There is just so much that embodies Firenze.
Every evening, we would walk to the Ponte Vecchio, where there would be live music playing, and we would watch the sun go down.  It was one of my favorite moments from the whole trip. It is definitely a place I want to go back to and explore more of.  We only had two nights here, so it was difficult to experience everything.  A funny moment from the trip was when Grey the mime clown, came up behind me while I was walking through the plaza  and squeezed the back of my knees.  It startled me so much , I screamed out loud.  Fortunately, he didn't wipe his white face paint all over me, as he did some unlucky tourists.  I also really loved looking into the eyes of David.  Michelangelo blows my mind, he was so brilliant.     

Where We Stayed:

Hotel David - Winner on Trip Advisor last year for best hotel, and highly recommendable.  Friendly hotel staff, very clean rooms and lots of character.

Museums We Saw:
Academia Gallery - Michelangelo's Statue of David, which is truly a masterpiece.

Uffizi Gallery - One of the oldest and most famous art collections in the world.

Museo Gallielo - Features artifacts such as telescopes, world globes, stethoscopes, navigation instruments, and Galileo Galilei's fingers in a jar.
 

Museum of Archeology - Housed an amazing Egyptian collection, especially of mummies.

Poshlocket Lookbook

Check out my lookbook I did with Poshlocket here!

Leaning Tower of Pisa

On our way to Florence, we stopped in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower.  I mean, we had to.  It's one of those iconic world landmarks, that everyone has to get their picture taken in front of.  The Leaning Tower has an interesting history.  Jogging from memory here from my Rick Steve's book, someone said to the original architect, "Is it just me, or does that look crooked?"  Little did they know, the land that they decided to build the tower on was not strong enough to support the weight of the tower, so it continued to sink.  It didn't really matter though because they continued to build before construction was halted after the third level.  Over the course of 177 years, several architects and builders tried to correct the issue to little avail.  Finally in the 90's after the tower was deemed unsafe, serious efforts were put into correcting the issue.  And thirty million dollars later,we have what the Leaning of Tower of Pisa is today, with the original 18 foot lean.  They say that the condition it is in, would be quite similar to when it was when originally built in the 12th Century.  Even better actually.  It's funny how the original architect's mistake, made this one of the world's greatest iconic landmarks.

Portofino, Italy

I'm kind of obsessed with capturing light at night.

We took a bus ride to Portofino, Italy, from Santa Margherita Ligure at the end of a long day of traveling.  Portofino is a very small, ritzy town, with high ends shop and mega-million dollar yachts parked in port.  We spent the evening walking around, eating pizza and gelato, and admiring Portofino's beauty.  On a side note - chocoalte gelato in Italy, is very different than chocolate gelato in America.  It is really rich dark chocolate.  (Fortunately, I spared you the picture of me smiling with my front teeth covered in chocolate gelato.  Not embarrasing at all.)  Anyways, after a few hours of roaming the cobble stone streets, we ended up missing the bus back to our hotel, so we decided to walk home.  I was a little hesitant to do so at first because you are walking on a very narrow, winding road, with Italian drivers coming at you in both directions.  However, it tured out to be very peaceful, and an excellent way to view the sea side cliffs.