Fiesole

Our first visit outside of Florence was to Fiesole, a hilltop town as ancient as it was full of wealthy Florentines. There we visited an archaeological site with Etruscan and Roman ruins including an amphitheater, a multilevel temple and Roman baths. Visigoth warrior tombs dot the area as well, however those buried were not as impressive as their name makes them out to be, they barely reached four and a half feet tall!






Following the archaeological site, we strapped on our hiking packs and made ready our water bottles for the steep climb up the hill to a monastery (which had real Franciscan friars dwelling in it. It was brutal, but the view over Florence was amazing and well worth the pain (I took video). We were not there long because they were beginning confessions, and our first experience with one was him telling us in Italian to "Get Out!"