two backpacks and a diaper bag

Tuesday, May 1st. Florence. Today, we decided to stay home. We’ve visited the sites that we wanted to visit yesterday, and today is Labor Day so a lot of places are closed.

Yesterday, we started our day by crossing Ponte Vecchio.

Then we visited Museo Galileo. This was definitely Sean’s cup of tea. They had all kinds of scientific instruments in there dating back to the 15th century.

I was quite amazed by the exhibitions that showed multiple presentation of the fetus. Interesting, creepy, and scary.

But really, the main reason why we were here was to see Galileo’s telescope and…

Galileo’s middle finger.

And apparently, his thumb and index finger were there too.

When his body was exhumed and moved to the Basilica di Santa Croce, they took his thumb, index finger, and middle finger. For reals. Hella creepy.

From the museum, we walked to Piazza della Signoria where another David statue is displayed. This is also where the Loggia dei Lanzi and Palazzo Vecchio is located.

We hung around here for some time before we head out to do leather shopping at Via de’ Ginori, 23r. I read about leather shopping online and this was one of the recommended place if we wanted to buy something good and real, and not want to go through the hassle of understanding the different types of leather or the hassle of haggling at the market.

On the way to the shop, we passed by a gelato place. We couldn’t help but got some. We didn’t know that they were going to be huge!

It took us a while to finish the ice cream. And I couldn’t believe I was sick of ice cream by the end of it! And I was definitely full.

The ladies at Via de’ Ginori, 23r were so nice and friendly. They also explained a couple of things to us about the leather. At the end, they recommended that we visit Museo degli Innocenti. The view from the cafe on top of the museum, they said, was super nice.

Indeed, it was true.

We took the opportunity to get something small to eat at the cafe, especially after the huge ice cream we had earlier.

After a quick lunch, we went to the museum. It was, actually, quite fascinating!

From the museum, we made our way to Santa Croce Basilica. We had to wait in line to get tickets.

Arthur was awaken by a man yelling to his friend at the end of the block. That man! Not cool! Everyone on the line couldn’t help but stare at him because he was so loud. It was unnecessary for him to yell like that.

I sat on the church steps to feed Arthur. But then, he pooped. A lot. It soiled his shirt. We had to do a diaper change and also a bodysuit change. It was bad.

Once inside, we walked around to admire the church itself, but also to see the tomb of Machiavelli…

and Dante…

and Michelangelo…

And Galileo.

Then we exited the church and walked around the square to look at the things in the temporary market.

Before we went home, we walked across the river and climbed up to Piazza Michelangelo.

One last David.

And a great view of the city.

From here, we got into a taxi, went back home, ordered Deliveroo, and watched Stephen Hawking’s Universe.

At night, Arthur slept for about an hour before he woke up crying uncontrollably. We tried to calm him down but it was impossible. I told Sean that Arthur must be hurting somewhere. I opened up his clothes to check the diaper and different parts of the body, but there was nothing. I tried to burp him, rub his stomach, pat his back, hold him close… nothing worked. He was screaming as if he had been hurt. Sean took out his vitamin bottle and shook it. Arthur slowly stopped crying. But then started up again. Sean shook the bottle again, and Arthur stopped crying. We were sure he wasn’t in pain. If he was in pain, he would still be crying even when we tried to distract him.

I tried to feed him. He started crying loudly again. Sean shook the bottle. He stopped crying. I played a game with him. He started to be calm down. Then I rocked him back to sleep. He was whimpering but it seemed to work. He was falling asleep again.

I put him on the bassinet and moved the stroller back and forth. He fell asleep once again.

Sean and I looked at each other, trying to understand what just happened. We couldn’t explain it.

I looked it up online. The only explanation I could find was “night terror” which might be caused by what had happened in the afternoon when he was rudely awakened by the man yelling. That might be the cause, but we would never know.

I hope tonight, he would sleep better and he wouldn’t wake up like that again.