June 17, 2022 Brussels to Florence (Firenze), Italy

Woke up at 5am to get all packed up and ready to head to the airport. We were leaving the flat at 5:50 and walking to the train station. We had our tickets at 6:11 but just missed the 6:14 train by the time we go downstairs. So we walked back ip the stairs and went front platform 1 over to platform 3 to wait for the 6:28 train. With the delays from yesterday we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. We arrived at the airport at 6:50 and headed up to check in. 

We got all checked in and our bags dropped off. A little nervous about that!!  Then headed to security. The line for security wasn’t too bad even with Kelle and Bella’s bag getting pulled for “extra security”. Since it was still early our flight was showing on the board. The girl at check in said A57 so we headed in that direction.

We saw the Jack Daniels drinks at the airport in Brussels.
Breakfast of Champions
Pistachio donut

We stopped at Panos again for breakfast and got and assortment of pastries and a sandwich. We could not find any water bottle filling stations in the airport, but there were tons of places to buy water.

We had fun checking out different things in the airport vending machines
We found a beer vending machine at the airport.

We headed over to gate 57 to find a spot to camp out at. There were some lounge chairs so I went and relaxed in those. They needed a right side arm rest I wasn’t sure what to do with 1 arm when I was sitting there. Kelle and I took a short walk to the end of the terminal and saw a few other cool seating options. 

Boarding started about 8:20 we got on board to start our next adventure! The plane ended up not leaving until 9:20, but the flight was just a little over an hour.

We arrive about 10:40 am. When we got off of the plane we walked down the stairs and onto the tarmac and over to the airport. Bella and Jennah thought it was crazy that we went onto the tarmac. We caught the train and headed towards the train station in Florence where the Ware’s will come into. We dropped off our bags at a hotel and headed to find some lunch. c

Kelle and I had an after lunch Espresso

After lunch we had about an hour until the Ware’s arrived so we decided to go walking around to check things out. We headed towards the Central Market to look around. We found some fruit and checked out the different meats.

We found a rabbit. Jennah thought it was gross.

When we were walking around it started raining a little bit, so we went back the train station that had some underground shopping to get out of the rain. After a little bit we headed back to get our bags and then met up with the Wares. Once we met up with them we headed towards the hotel. It was getting super hot out and muggy since the rain had stopped. It was a good 30 minute walk to the hotel from the train station. Alberto was waiting for us when we arrived at the Flat. We went up to the Flat and dropped off all of our things. From the outside terrace we were able to see a grocery store. There was a little cafe on the corner, so before heading to dinner we stopped and had a cafe.

Porta di San Frediano – Completed in 1332, this grand access gate designed by Andrea Pisano features wood & metal doors.

We took a leisure walk and stopped to look at different things along the way it took us almost 45 minutes to walk to where we were eating. The streets and sidewalks are very small. There was one time a bus came by and it looked like the side mirror was going to hit Aly in the head it was so close to the sidewalk.

We saw this cool private residence.
We had dinner at Osteria del Gatto e La Volpe ( The Cat and the Fox Tavern)
Vino and aqua
Cacio e pepe. I ended up switching meals with Jennah since she liked my meal. She had a Cesar Salad, so I switched with her since she was willing to branch out.
After dinner we walked around and started walking around and checking out different plazas and statues.
Piazza della Signoria – Fountain of Neptune
Piazza della Signoria – Fountain of Neptune
Replica Statue of David
Hercules holding medusa’s head
After dinner we stopped for some Gelato. I had Tiramisu and milk with the chocolate chips.
We walked along the Ponte Vecchio and checked out the shops and the view. It was pretty crowded.
We saw the only operating wine window left. You go up to the window and ring the bell and order a glass of wine and stand on the sidewalk and drink it. There is documentation showing the wine windows were used in the 1600s during the Black Death and Plague as a way to sell wine without coming into contact with people.

We finished walking back to the Flat and send Brandon with the kids. Kelle, Aly and I went to the store behind our place. We grabbed some breakfast, water, and wine before heading back to the flat to relax.

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