Griffin in Florence, Italy Day 6- July 2, 2026

No trip seems complete without some sort of complication and this one is no exception. Griffin went to bed feeling somewhat nauseous and woke up feeling even worse. The three of us agreed setting out for Florence by train, with a 7:15 AM departure, wasn’t in the cards. So Nana gave Griffin a shot of electrolytes and straight water. He awoke at 9 AM feeling much better, although not 100%. He wanted to go and catch up with the team.

Two options: a train that would get us there by 11:30 AM or a taxi that would hopefully get us there in time to join the group to enter the Acadamia Gallary. The tickets were for 11:30 entry so the train wouldn’t work. The taxi, taking a circuitous route rather than following Google’s advice, eventually dropped us a couple of blocks from the front door. A one-way street going the wrong way proved to be our downfall. Nonetheless, we hoofed it down the crowded street and arrived at the Acadamia at 10:29..

The Acadamia is the home to Michaelangelo’s statue of David, the biblical character who killed the giant Goliath, became the leader of the Jews and was a lineal predecessor of Jesus. Michaelangelo was 26 years old when he was commissioned to sculpt an image of David using a block of granite other artist rejected as unsuitable. He worked in complete secrecy for three years. It was originally intended to be installed at the top of the cathedral but it proved to be too large and so ended up in front of the town hall, thereby becoming a symbol of Florence and its battles with city-state rivals (including Pisa). It was moved into the Acadamia in the 1870s.

Michaelangelo depicts David in a pose and expression as he sizes up his approach to Goliath. It’s artistic accomplishment also became the symbol of the Renaissance, the period of time that ended the Medieval period beginning in the late 15th Century when Florence and then the rest of Europe rediscovered and adopted elements of the Greek and Roman cultures and discovered a humanistic approach to life rather than a strictly religious one that was dictated by the Pope and papal politics..

After the Acadamia it was time for lunch and free time to explore Florence on our own. A group of us went to the Central Market where, on the first floor (one up from the ground floor) we found a large food court with options ranging across all sorts of Italian cuisines and regions. Griffin, starting to feel OK but still cautious, had chicken nuggets. Nana had lamb skewers and I had a chicken and salad creation. Good stuff.

Our free time was, dictated by the kids, a time for shopping. There are, of course, a zillion stores within a short walk of the Duomo Cathedral, five minutes from where we had lunch. I saw at least three Foot Locker stores. So did we go for authentic Italian goods? Nope. The overwhelming consensus of our kids was to cut a half-mile beeline to the Brady Melville where Griffin bought a gift for his sister, Esme. Yeah, it had Florence on it but we had taken Esme to the Brady Melville store on Newbury Street in Boston last January. The nice thing about shopping like this is that we got to see lots of Florence while searching for the store..

Speaking of the Duomo, it reminded Judy and me of our trip here 21 years ago. We had a Smart car and circled the Duomo and Baptistry three times looking for our hotel (no GPS back then, just a map).. The hotel, once we got there, had a basket in the bathroom containing a bug repellant and ear plugs. It was a hot time in June, there was no air conditioning so the windows had to be open. Bugs are a summertime problem here, hence the bug repellant. And because the windows were open, the music from the Irish pub immediately under our window continued until the wee hours of the morning. Hence the ear plugs.

Our 4 PM meeting place was on the plaza where the Neptune Fountain holds sway. We sat at a sidewalk cafe and had cold drinks before joining the group at four.

We walked over the Arno river on the Ponte Vecchio,, which is lined with more trinket shops as it has since medieval times. We eventually found the Tavola cooking school. The kids learned how to make potatoe gnocchis with red sauce, pasta with pesto sauce and gelato, all of which served as our dinner. Lots of fun and good eats as a result.

Then back through town to our bus and back to the hotel by 8:30 PM. Tomorrow were off to Vinci, home of Leonardo, a museum and a farm that has a swimming pool.