Mothers' Day in Firenze

Day 8 (11 May 2025)

It's Mothers' Day and Andre kindly arranged for a leisurely day today. First we walked over to the duomo. Duomo means cathedral. It's more than a church as it's usually referring to where the bishop resides. To add to the confusion, there's basilica which also means church but a special one of special significance as designated by the Pope. 

There are more than 300 duomos in Italy but when people talk about The Duomo, it generally refers this one in Florence - the Cathedral of Santa Maria. We already knew it was going to be impressive but still, we were unprepared for just how magnificent it was. We turned the corner and there it was - this massive architectural wonder, with its exquisite arches and statues. The bells rang and honestly, it felt like we were in a different time period altogether. Photos don't do it justice. You have to see it in person.

We didn't buy tickets in advance to see the inside of the duomo, something I regret because it's supposed to be a treasure trove of art. It's quite a madhouse trying to get tickets to these major attractions on the day itself because of the long queues, so we didn't try.

Most duomos have an adjacent baptistry and a bell tower.

Around the square were artists painting on site and displaying their art, something I didn't see in Rome.

Right at the Piazza della Signoria is where the replica of Michelangelo's David stands (we saw the original at the Accademia yesterday).

We passed by Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence, originally built more than 2,000 years ago. Interesting fact: this was the only bridge in Florence that wasn't bombed in World War II, on the orders of Hitler. The bridge is even mentioned in one of my favourite arias - "O mio babbino caro" by Puccini!

Initially I'd intended to paint the Duomo on site but once we reached the Piazza del Duomo, I instantly recognised my foolishness. First, there's no way I could do it justice. Second, the square was so crowded it was impossible to find a spot with a good view. 

 

So I decided to paint Ponte Vecchio instead (back at the hotel, not on site). I took some liberties with the sky colour (love my turquoise and pink skies!) 

 

We also saw Pitti Palace, a Renaissance Palace that belonged to the powerful Medici family. Quite different from all the ornate palaces we've seen in Europe, this one looked more like a fortress. 

In our search for a toilet, we stumbled upon a nondescript gelato shop that turned out to be a great find. We're learning fast that pistachio flavours are Italy's speciality. The waitress was pretty surly though and really didn't look like she enjoyed her job. Ah well, our experience so far has been that the more unfriendly the staff, the better the food😆

On this trip, we have a lot of unplanned walking which is great because we come across unexpected finds. One of them was this local market that we accidentally wandered into. Lots of interesting stuff - we saw artichokes! It's very foreign to us and we tried some on our first day but it's one of the specialities of Italy (particularly in Rome).

There was a guy slicing prosciutto that looked delicious.

Then Andre's eyes lit up when he saw someone selling lampredotto, one of the speciality foods in Florence. It's a sandwich made from cow's stomach. Of course he had to get some. It's tasty but what got me was the fries - crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Possibly the best I've ever had, I couldn't stop eating them! 

In the evening, Andre treated me to Mothers' Day dinner at a trattoria recommended by our hotel. In Florence, you have to try the namesake Florentine steak. The catch is that this is a massive 1.3kg t-bone steak cooked rare on a smoky grille (the Italians have big appetites!) We had ours with a side of potatoes. It was so tender and juicy 😋

Not sure if it's because it's Mothers' Day but they served us free prosecco to start and limoncello (lemon-flavoured liquer) as an after-dinner drink. Both were so strong Andre had to finish mine for me 😆 (plus he ordered a glass of white wine!) 

 

I was so stuffed after the meal and thought we did quite well to polish off so much meat, then I saw a little old Italian lady (one in yellow) at another table eating the meat off the t-bone with her hands, then finishing off with a bowl of salad before asking for more bread 😱 Never underestimate the Nonna! 

 

Happy Mothers' Day 🌹🌹