The Medici Villa

The view of the gardens, city, and hills from the deck of the palace

This morning, we headed to the Medici Villa (which is more of a palace than anything!). The Medici's were the Vanderbilts of Florence. You see their name all over the city and they have a part in most of the major monuments. We took a city bus over to the other side of town and then had about a 20 minute walk to the Palace. The "villa" sits on top of a huge hill and overlooks the entire city. It is completely surrounded by gardens and huge fountains. What a beautiful paradise. To top it off, this was not even the Medici's actual home. This was their "summer getaway"! Must be nice huh?

The beautiful gardens! 

On the inside of the building, there were huge chandeliers in every room, beautiful tapestries, and statues dating back to before the 1800's. The history of this place was unbelievable! The only downside of the day was that our tour guide was not bilingual, so we had to figure out many things about the house on our own.  I think this is the first time I have met a tour guide that didn't speak English! I still had a pretty good time using my imagination though! Sadly, we could not take pictures inside the palace but I did get many of the garden!

A rectangle pond in front of the Palace.
I love the reflection of the clouds!

After our tour, we had a little picnic in the gardens and walked back to the bus stop. By the way, I have never had much (okay.. ANY) experience with public transportation in my life and I am not a fan of it. The buses are hot and always packed with very loud Italians. I miss my car for sure even though I know it would not get me far in this city. Maybe I will talk to my dad about getting a Vespa? :) I'm sure he will be all over that (not)! I hope everyone has had a great week and I am so excited to share my experience in VENICE tomorrow! Can you believe it?! VENICE!

Signing off with love as always! Hugs and Kisses from Florence! 


Dana