After creepy Pinocchio park we went to explore Villa Garzoni gardens and butterfly farm. When we got there the door was locked and it said to ring this bell below to let someone know you are there. It felt like we were in Emerald City and the wizard was going to appear. We spent a few minutes looking for a bell (like a doorbell) before realizing they meant to ring this big cow bell.
Clearly the girls loved this and rang the bell over and over. The wizard never came. No one opened the door. I peeked around the side and found a cracked gate. We all snuck in (fyi apparently snuck is not a word as spell check keeps underlining it with the obnoxious red line. It annoyed me so i just looked it up and the proper word would be sneaked. Who says sneaked? I’m leaving snuck. We snuck in). Once inside it really was beautiful with orange trees, a fish pond, peacocks, baby goats, ducks, black swans, butterflies and turtles. This was worth sneaking in to see.
This was Sabi’s favorite part. She just loves animals and has no fear. She stuck her little hand right in their mouths and loved it. When we went to leave one came running to the edge and let out a loud maaaaa staring at us.
After this we called a taxi to pick us up and take us back to the train station. While we were waiting for the taxi we walked across the street to a restaurant to get some bottles of water and Will and I split a beer. The lady loved the girls and their charm struck again. She gave them a free plate of chips (which is funny b/c i debated on buying a bag for the ride home but then didnt b/c they already had chips). When the cab came b/c it was only about 4 minutes away, she handed us a bag to put all the chips in and told us to take them with us. She then came around to the front and brought each girl a free smiley face cookie in a bag to take with them. She was so sweet and the girls gave huge smiles and thanks for the treats.
The train home was delayed. Some kids also pulled an alarm so for about 10 minutes while waiting for train all we heard was an annoying alarm over and over. The 1 1/2 hour train ride took over 2 hours. Sabs flipped out for the last two stops, which was a reminder of how Sabs could actually flip out b/c she really hasn’t the entire trip. I had to get up and walk around with her until she conked out in my arms while standing in between train cars with a huge crowd of people. Pookie started coming down with her fever at this time i think b/c this is when she said she had a headache and then fell asleep for a bit on the ride home. This pic was from before any of that happened and Elmo was still funny and entertaining.
When we got back to Florence we took a cab home and then Will ran out and picked up some Chinese food (which was reallllly good and a nice change from bread, pizza, pasta). I made the girls some scrambled eggs and put some white rice and apples on the side. Sophie ate the apples and told me to save the rest b/c she was cold and tired. That is when fever officially began. Sabs ended up really liking fried rice. Funny in Italy one of my top meals was Chinese. Mmmm.