After exploring Pisa, we hopped on yet another train from Pisa to Florence (Firenze). It was only about 45 minutes long which wasn't bad, but the kids were starving by the time we arrived. We grabbed our luggage & walked from the train station to our hotel which was only about a mile away.
Our hotel in Florence was really nice. We had 8 rooms so we all got to split up get everyone situated in their own spaces. Our room fit Trek & I & all 3 of our boys, & then the girls had a room of their own to share as well. All the rooms were clean, spacious, & beautiful.
We walked around Florence a little bit & found a huge eatery filled with all sorts of foods. Everyone got to pick what they wanted & we enjoyed all sorts of food.
Bladen opted for fried chicken & corn on the cob.
Which he devoured in true Bladen fashion.
A lot of the kids got Italian grilled cheese sandwiches which were insanely cheesy.
And some opted for pizza or pasta.
My girls went straight for the dumplings & got 2 varieties with different dipping sauces. They were SO good.
After eating heavy foods for 3 days, I just really wanted a salad. I got a yummy chicken salad that really hit the spot.
After dinner, some of us were exhausted & others wanted to explore some more. The boys were a little crazy so we decided that I would stay in the hotel & get them showered & in bed while Trek went with a few of the family members to explore the city nightlife.
Tylee, Olive, Trek, Lorien, Taya, Opa, Oma, & Tuhk went out to explore the town.
They got to see the cathedral & town hall first & boy was it gorgeous.
(This whole experience was told to me by Trek so I wasn't there to cover all the details.)
They found a fun little carousel in the city center & everybody got to ride.
That's when the excitement started. . . after the carousel, they were walking back toward the hotel when Opa felt his phone get taken out of his pocket. He looked back & saw a man running with his phone in his hand. Opa had been pick-pocketed. Opa started yelling & tried to run after the man, but the man was too fast.
However, the unlikely heroes of the night were Taya, Trek, & Lorien. The minute she heard Opa yell, Taya took off after the man. (This scares me to death that she [a 14 year old girl] would take off after someone who had stolen someone's property!). Taya is a sweet little unicorn 99% of the time, but if you get on her bad side you better watch out. She took off after the man & nearly caught up to him. Once Lorien realized what was happening, she too started running after him. Trek panicked when he realized BOTH his little girls were chasing a criminal who could possibly have a knife or gun! He took off running faster than he's ever run in his life. He didn't want the girls to get to him first. Luckily, Trek is a seasoned runner & he is FAST. He bolted past both girls & chased down the man. Once the man realized a whole crew of people was after him, he panicked & put Opa's phone on the ground & took off running hoping Trek would grab the phone & leave him be.
Trek picked up the phone & everyone stopped to catch their breath. Opa had his phone back, everyone was safe, & all was right in the world again. (I still can't believe Taya & Lorien chased that guy!)
On their way back to the hotel, they ran into the thief AGAIN. Opa stared him down & yelled at him to "get out of the area or he'd call the cops."
The guy booked it out of there.
Trek & the girls burst into our hotel room to tell us their story. I had to laugh. Always something happening right?
The nightlife was lovely in Florence. There was live music playing in the alleyways & people were laughing & talking most of the night. I really enjoyed looking out our window at the scene. Florence was beautiful.
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