Duomo

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is beautiful in color and patterns of marble both on the exterior and throughout the walls and floors inside.  It is famous for Brunelleschi's famous Duomo (dome structure that remains an architectural wonder).  We climbed the 414 stairs to the top of the Bell Tower to look out over Florence!), and went into the Baptistry.

ready to climb the Bell Tower

Thankfully there were places to stop and look out as Mommy and the children climbed to the top!

Pasta Class

We took an Italian pasta making class!  It was fun and delicious and we all enjoyed!
We made three kinds of pasta with sauces from scratch:  
Cappelletti with butter and sage sauce, Ravioli (with lemon ricotta filling) and tomato, basil, olive oil sauce,
and Pappardelle with beef ragu!

Asher helped make the butter and sage sauce

Florence

Daddy and Mommy would go out in the mornings for a walk and coffee, while the children slept and had breakfast.  Florence is so clean (we saw street sweepers that also mopped the stone roads), the buildings are built close together making the narrow streets shaded, and so much was easy walking distance!

gelato and cannoli (a guide told us this is best cannoli because it is filled when you order it!)

 

Florentine steak and pistachio filled pastry

we walked through Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella - 

the oldest pharmacy in the world, originally built as a monastery, it is now a beautiful (very expensive) perfume shop