Europe Trip Part 4: Florence, Italy

June 21, Wednesday

We went to breakfast this morning around 7:15 AM. I asked everyone to meet at our room at 8 AM. They hadn't told us we could leave the ship yet so we hung around in our room for a little bit. We had a prayer and headed out to line up to disembark. There were only a couple of families in front of us. It wasn't too long after 8:30 AM that they let us off, even though the gangway wasn't supposed to be up until 9 AM. That's what we were counting on, that we could get off a little early so we could meet our tour guide at 9:05 AM. Basically, what I found out today, is that I've been worrying for two months for nothing. We got off the ship very quickly. We walked outside and there was a very long row of shuttle buses to take us to the terminal building. I think there were probably 12 buses sitting there and we got on the first one. It only took five minutes to get to the terminal building. We still had 15 minutes before we even needed to meet our driver. We had a bathroom stop and then went outside and I found the man holding the sign with my name on it quite easily. He took us right to his van and we got right in and we left. I was kind of confused because I thought there was another van coming with us, but he said he was only hired to drive us and we were ready to go. I was in complete shock that it was as easy as that. I can't understand why no one in the Facebook group or no one at the Italy Tours company told us that there were so many shuttle buses and I didn't need to worry about it.  Well, when I get back, I can offer advice and help the other people, I guess. Not only that, but because we filled up the entire van there was nobody else who would've had to wait for us if we had been late. Our driver’s name was Stefano and he was very friendly. He talked to us quite a bit and told us about some things on the drive. Stefano had said we were just getting an appetizer of Florence, and he was right. I was so excited just to be in Italy! He pointed out a mountain where they get marble and showed us the area where they keep the big, huge chunks of marble and they whittle it down to make pieces that are ready to send out. This is the marble that they used in Florence to make the cathedral and other buildings, and it's also highly sought after for people to use in their homes now. We drove past some beautiful vineyards, just like you would see in the movies. We saw quite a few from the highway.

Stefano said he also has five children and they're about the same age as our kids. He asked if we are believers and we said we were. As soon as Nathaniel and Audrey said they live in Utah, he immediately asked if we were Mormon and we said we were. Later, I made sure to mention the full name of the church. Anyway, our first stop was Pisa and it was only an hour away. He was saying that we had an appointment at 1:30 PM to meet the tour guide in Florence so I was confused, but it made sense when he said that we go to Pisa first. There was so much traffic that we only had about 45 minutes there, which wasn't nearly enough. Emily, Jonny, and I wasted way too much time trying to get the picture that made it look like we were holding up the tower. We didn’t realize until later that from some views, it doesn’t look like it’s leaning much at all.

Michael and the boys met up with us and told me where the bathroom was. I barely had enough time to rush over there and use the bathroom and come back. Daniel wanted a little train set that some guy was selling right outside the gate. I had told him we would buy it on the way out but thankfully they decided to go buy it while I was in the bathroom because the guy was going to leave after that. I would've felt so bad if I had put Daniel off and he missed his chance. He doesn't ask for much. Everyone was annoyed with me that I took so long and then I still wanted a picture, but I made sure to get a couple anyway. The sun was so bright that we were all squinting. 

We quickly walked back over to the van and Stefano drove us to Florence. We saw some more beautiful vineyards on the way. 

Stefano suggested that we go to Michelangelo Square, which is above the city and would give us a great view of Florence. Boy, was he right! He drove us through a fancy, rich Florence neighborhood. He said that's where all the rich people live. The view was incredible! 

We didn't want to spend too long there so after about 10 minutes we gathered everyone and went back to the van. Andrew had wandered off a bit so we had to wait for him. I bought a magnet. I told everyone that if they want to go off on their own, they have to tell us and they to be with somebody who has phone service. Stefano took us to the drop off point to meet our tour guide. It was right next to the Accademia Gallery. We had about 20 minutes to buy lunch and eat it and get back. Jonny said he wanted to try pizza, so we all went to a place called Self Service Pizza. Jonny got cheese pizza, Andrew got penne pasta that he loved, I got lasagna that was just OK, and the rest got pepperoni pizza. 

They had us sit in a little garden room at the back. At first, we tried sitting somewhere else and they shooed us to the back room. We ate as fast as we could and then walked back to meet the guide. Nathaniel and Audrey got a sandwich and gelato somewhere else. We met up with the guide and she took us over to the Accademia Gallery. We had to stand in line outside for quite a while even though we had “skip the line” tickets. She gave us a headset with an ear bud for one ear, I guess that’s so we could still hear what's going on around us. We went through security and then she said we could go downstairs to use the bathrooms. There was a line for the ladies’ bathroom but the guys were in and out quickly. Emily and I got stuck behind with the tour guide. Audrey met up with Nathaniel and they got in pretty quickly, but they were holding Emily and I back because it was so full, they had to wait for people to leave. I think our guide must've finally told the lady that the rest of our family was already in there so they let us in. She took us right over to the David statue and explained the history of the statue. I hadn't noticed before but his head and his right hand were purposely made extra big. Also, he holds the rock that he intends to use on Goliath in his hand. She took us around the back and described it from that point of view, as well. 

Then she started leading us away and quickly through another room into the gift shop. I had tried to get her attention because I really wanted to get a picture of our family. I asked her if it was OK if we went back and she seemed pretty annoyed but she didn't tell us she was leading us out. We all went back in and took a couple quick pictures. 

Then I got scolded by a worker for using the selfie stick but I was leaving anyway so it was fine. The tour guide had told us when Emily and I were standing there with her waiting to come in that we only would be spending five minutes in there. That was a bummer because I paid €16 for each of us to go in there and I had no idea it would only be for ten minutes. I also wish that she had told us that so that we could've gone in first and then used the bathrooms on the way out. We left the gallery and went to meet up with the rest of the group who didn't buy the tickets to the Accademia Gallery. She walked us around the city center. We saw the City Square and the cathedral and all kinds of cool statues. It was all very interesting. 

I thought the bridge was cool. It was built about 500 years ago. It was the only bridge to survive the war and not be affected by floods. It's cool how they had built shops on the bridge. Apparently, there used to be butcher's shops and now it was all jewelry shops and they had all kinds of beautiful jewelry. 

I went to take a picture and the tour guide scolded me for leaving a part of my purse unzipped. I had to unzip it to put the phone away anyway and it was otherwise empty, but whatever. I thought we were done with the tour at 3 PM, but it was more like 3:15 PM when she brought us to the square where the carousel is where we were supposed to meet our driver.  Shortly before we made it to that square with the carousel, Nathaniel and Audrey said they wanted to go back and see all the statues by the cathedral so I took their headsets for them and told them they would have to call me to figure out where to meet. I ended up just sending them a pin so that worked. After the tour, we turned in our headsets and gave her a tip and went to find somewhere to get gelato. The place she pointed out to us was a little bit far but we went there anyway. Michael, Andrew, and I all got gelato and the others got drinks. 

We ate quickly and then went back out to the square to meet Stefano. 

Nathaniel and Audrey met us there and Stefano drove us back to the ship. We left a little bit after 3:30 PM and we got to the port around 5:30 PM. We easily got on the shuttle and got on the ship. It was a full, quick day but we loved it! We quickly changed into our Caribbean night attire and went to dinner. I got the salmon and Emily got the ribeye and we shared because we both wanted both of those entrées. Nathaniel and Audrey got the curry and Michael and the boys all got the prime rib. We sat around and talked about everybody's favorite things over the last few days. They played music and asked us all to get up and dance the Macarena with them for Caribbean night. We got a picture of the family. Michael went back to the room and the rest of us went to the slide. It wasn't going to open until 8 PM so we played a little mini golf to kill time. It's not the best course so we quit halfway through and went to the Ultimate Abyss slide. I was pretty dizzy at the end but it was fun. There was no wait for the carousel, so we all rode that. 

Then we walked over to family karaoke night. Emily and Andrew signed up to sing 22 by Taylor Swift and asked me to join in. Then a couple songs later, Emily and Jonny sang Love Story. I was pretty proud of Jonny for being so brave. Daniel went back to the room after the first song we sang. After Love Story, Jonny and Andrew went back to the rooms and Emily and I went up to the picture studio. They still didn't have all of our pictures so we had to go search for them. It took a little time but we got it figured out. Then we stopped at Café Promenade because I wanted a treat. I had ordered the panna cotta at dinner and it was just OK, so I wanted to try something else. We got a chocolate bar, carrot cake, and Napoleon bar. Then we went back to the rooms and we gathered everyone for scriptures and prayer and then went to bed.