The kids slept in late this day, so we got breakfast from a cafe near our Airbnb – Mo Si Caffeteria. We found it based on Google search for the nearest place but it was one of the best breakfast cafes on the trip. They had a variety of pastries and coffee drinks, I recommend the pistachio croissant and the aragostine, a flaky custard-filled pastry that is both crunchy and melts in your mouth at the same time.
After breakfast, we walked to the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze to see one of Florence’s most famous attractions, Michelangelo’s sculpture of David. He did not disappoint, and it was fascinating to learn about the history of Michelangelo’s works, as well as learn how to properly appreciate the sculpture as a layperson. Michelangelo etched his form entirely from a solid block of marble, without any references or markings that was customary for sculptors to use. It truly appears that God revealed David to the artist as he chipped away at the marble in a state of flow.
Some of the other highlights were the Prisoners series of sculptures, the Pieta and the hall of sculptures. As a musician, I also enjoyed the musical instrument section, which had the oldest piano and some obscure instruments. The Rick Steves app really helped here – I listened to it the previous night and I also read the transcript to my daughter in advance, so even she was able to follow along when we got there.
After that we got lunch near the museum. The kids were starving so we got lunch from a Mediterranean restaurant right next door (They ordered pizza!) but I held out for Vegetarian Sandwich #3 from Al Antico Vinao, which was a 5 star meal for me. Even Aria, who usually hates truffles, really enjoyed the sandwich and kept sneaking bites off mine.
We then walked to the Leonardo Da Vinci interactive museum. Now we read online that it is a tourist trap, but if you ask my kids, they will tell you that this museum was one of the highlights of the trip (it might even be one of two things they remember about the trip!) We spent two whole hours there, walking around while our kids played with everything on display. There are some neat interactive exhibits as well as scientific explanations, but my kids were mostly interested in the puzzle table in the second room. They also had an interesting collection of books and STEM toys in the gift shop.
Later, we walked to the famous Duomo and Bell tower, but our feet were too tired by this point to do anything except take a few pictures. We also stopped for gelato at Nuvola Gelateria, this was average by Italian standards, but hey, gelato is gelato!
After that pitstop, we walked to the Profumeria Santa Maria Novella – it was quite a walk but I was very excited to go to a perfumery after a memorable visit to Fragonard in Grasse over a decade ago. However, while the building was beautiful and the shop extremely busy, I did not like the scents as much as I expected and they also did not cater to different price points unlike Fragonard.
Disappointed, we left the perfumery but luckily we were not disappointed (or hungry) for long, because we walked into La Grotta di Leo for dinner. This is a Florentine style restaurant, but they were also very accommodating to our dietary needs, as well as to the kids’ palate. Their carafe of house wine was also the biggest I saw on our trip, and it is a miracle we both didn’t stumble out of the restaurant that night.
