We arrived before the city “woke up”. It was about 8:30am. Watching the shopkeepers open the stores and great each other was just magical. Kinda a slow sleepy start. The city quickly came alive as the tourists all showed up around 9:30 and by 10:15 the every piazza was packed. I never felt uncomfortable just crowded.

We met for the Florence walking tour at the Medici museum. Our guide was incredible and show us so many things we would have never known just walking around. We are not usually “tour” people, we can’t stand the slow movement of a tour but he kept us engaged with stories of the Medici family and the history of Florence. We learned about the alleyways, the towers, the churches during the black plague, the floods (2 on the same day decades apart). We walked the streets that people walked in the medieval times. We learned about the corners and why all the buildings have doors on the second floor and why in Europe the second floor is the first floor🤷🏻‍♀️ we walked along and learned about the Donmo and the Baptistery and the importance to the town. After the walk we found the public toilet, paid our 1€ and then walked town the bridge, Ponte Vecchio, it has been there since 1218. That bridge, has been home to shops and merchants since the 13th century. It was an amazing display of gold jewelry, draping mannequins, street vendors selling their wares, rollerbladers racing each other across, needless to say it was quite an adventure. We learned on the ride over that gold prices change daily and that is how they price their goods, you have to ask. We didn’t want any jewelry but had to walk the bridge.

After we walked away from the most touristy of areas, we went to find lunch. We found a pizzeria and sat down. Yes, to sit down you pay 3-5€ fee on top of your bill. However a pizza is 9€. And you pay for water. 4€. After lunch we headed back into the streets to look around in the leather district before we met our ride.

There we met “Smiley”. He was a 4th generation leather craftsman. He took us to see his shop and how they make custom pieces. He spoke of the different leathers for the different climates. It was very interesting. Just proves if you take the chance and speak to someone they want to share their craft with you. They want to make a connection. He spoke of the hardships of Italy closing for 2 years. While busy they are happy with the amount of tourists right now! Shoot me a message and I will give you the address and phone number!