Florence + Two days + Two Teenagers = Parenting Skills' Test (Day One)

It has been a while since I've put a post together. It has been a busy summer- lots of travelling and millions of reasons to thank the universe. Hopefully, I can share some of the magic I experienced with you, too.

Let's start with Florence.

I guess the title of this post hints at the mutiny I faced in the land of Art. By the end of Day Two, the teenagers had managed to rope in their father aka my husband! But, I'm jumping the gun here.

It started out just like any other holiday- well researched and broadly based on the 'advice' of others who've gone there before us.

We landed in Milan and embarked upon our Italian road trip.

We were very lucky to find a great place to stay in Signa (near Florence) called the Borgo Villa Castelletti (http://www.villacastelletti.it/borgo/it/Contents/homepage). The owner, Alessandro, came out to greet us like we were old friends-  with arms outstretched and a booming 'welcome' breaking the silence of the surroundings. I actually turned around to check if he was headed towards someone behind me- but he wasn't. All the staff here were warm and always ready to help. The breakfast was sensational- fresh local produce - we enjoyed cherries and apricots, yogurts and bread and the ubiquitous espresso, served with a smile in the beautiful Tuscan outdoors. There was a bowl of flax seeds as well- I was impressed.

This was the view from our window...

And the corner that sealed the deal for me. How cute is this kettle?

DAY ONE:
After breakfast, we drove to and  parked at Signa train station and took the train to Florence. Fifteen minutes later, we were paying to get into the Basillica di Santa Maria Novella.

Two things struck me as unusual here. First, that we had just paid over 20 Euros to get inside a church! And second, the incredible light inside. Light streaming through stained glass, dancing as candle light, bouncing off surfaces like wrought iron, brass, marble and lace. It was spell binding.

The incredible ceiling...

The light, lace and the candles.

The gift shop.

The Sky Gods were getting ready to take a shower ( my son's theory of why it rains when he was about three years old- we were living in London then and it rained pretty much every day there; so I did not challenge his theory.)

My immediate concern was to find cover and still make good use of our 'tourist' time in the city. When one is in Florence for two days, one needs to make the most of it. Right?

Wrong.

Armed with my knowledge of the weather and smug with my plan to go into the one FREE building in this part of Florence, I shepherded my brood towards The Duomo. 

We made it just in time. The Sky Gods had started their water fight. The sky roared and thundered and it poured.

The Duomo offers free guided tours in various European languages. As the English guide was not available, a French speaking guide did an excellent job of relating the history and art of Duomo to us.

I hinted at going through this door to climb the 400 plus steps but the first murmurings of revolt could be heard under my teenagers' breath. I chose to ignore it. BIG MISTAKE!

When we stepped out...

photo credit: the husband

Thanks to the many Italian gelatarias here, the Jain clan was sweetened up to start the walk from the Duomo to Ponte Vecchio (the oldest of Florence's six bridges across the River Arno). The walk, however, turned into a battle of wits as the teenagers (who weren't used to walking for four hours at a stretch in hot Doha), started playing the 'do we have to?' and the more challenging 'why do we have to?' tune. 

I saw red and the rest as they say is histrionic history- a scene of a mother lecturing (with lots of emotional blackmail thrown in) her children on a footpath  about how wonderful this experience should be and how this should open up their perspective of the world and how if all they wanted to do was sit, we should've stayed at home. Even I would hate Florence if I was being given that lecture. But, hind sight is a great thing.

So the next set of pictures was taken while my brood brooded ten feet behind or in front of me and I tried to calm my rattling nerves while taking pictures.

Ponte Vecchio:

photo by husband

"Legend has it that if you and your loved one attach a padlock to any surface of the famous bridge and then throw away the key into the Arno River below, your love will last forever. Millions of couples have come to the Ponte Vecchio for expressly this reason, to lock in their love and throw away the key for eternity."   

Information coutesy:http://www.firenzealbergo.it/EN/default.aspx

Had I known this fact, I would've carried a lock, but I only found out after I came back home and googled this phenomenon- lucky for us (the husband and me ) as the number of good looking Italian men found on these streets would tempt me to carry a whole bunch of padlocks...just in case:) 

Let's cool it and focus, aha...the beauty of nature calls...

The river and its inhabitants:

The rain played hide and seek with us as we made our way to Piazza Pitti to feed the hungry children. Food always makes everything fine. The silence of the Jains was broken by diving into delicious sandwiches. We sat indoors and watched the birds play in the drizzle.

The rain was pitter- pattering down and all four of us were ready to walk the streets of Florence. The next set of pictures is anything that caught my eye while we made our way back to the train station.

For my English teacher friends:- an ambiguous statement...

Wall Art...

The street opposite the Dolce and Gabbana kids store- I think they were doing a promotion of some sort. It all looked very inviting.

The day ended on a high with the best pizza I have had in my life. This was at a family run restaurant called Ristorante de Foffo (recommended by Alessandro) in Signa. I can honestly say that their mushroom pizza was awesome. Obviously, we had to finish the meal with gelato and this place was gelato heaven...

The hotel looked even more beautiful in the evening light. The family was all too glad to rest their tired feet.

LESSON LEARNT on DAY ONE:-  Food comes before Art or Culture. 

Don't worry, I have another day of Florence which I'll share in my next post and some more lessons I learnt as a mother of teenagers on a trip to Florence.