We got here on a sunny morning and raced around trying to take pictures of pretty things while we had nice light. That afternoon it started to rain and has rained ever since so while most of the photos look depressing it is not a reflection of our mood but just the weather. We love it here too. The food, the friendly people, the sights all in all a very nice place but it is the most expensive place so far in Italy.
We climbed to the top of a tower and to the top of the tallest church dome in town. 411 steps on the tower and 452 steps on the church dome. We did them of different days so not a real challenge. We hiked up to a basillica at the top of a hill south of the old town it rained but it was still a nice walk.
I got new shoes, they are the same model as my old shoes but have new flashy colouring because this is Italy after all and style is king. I did the first tower in my old shoe the second in the new shoes, the new shoes are awsome, I can just about keep up to Yoly now.
We went to some of the cool museums and looked at the art. We saw some famous paintings and sculptures. The museums in Florence are full of students of art from all over the world. They take turns filling up the rooms in the museums. The trick is to pass by the full rooms and return once they have gone to fill up another room but before the next group has arrived. We had pretty good success but we could probably learn a lot about art if we paid attention to the lessons. We got see the original David by Michelangelo and some of his paintings. We saw paintings by Donatello, Raphael and even some Dutch masters. It was grand!
This was our first stop in Florence, it is the Bacilica Santissima Annunziata. The priest there invited us in during mass, just as we were turning on our heels so as not to disturb the faithfull. He talked to us after the service and gave us a book in spanish about the histories of the all the churches in Florence. A real nice guy.
The Cathedral in Piazza del Duomo.
An old roman floor under the the Cathedral
The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Piazza del Duomo. A view from the Giotto's Bell tower
View from the bell tower in the Piazza del Duomo.
Santa Croce church from Gioto's bell tower.
Bell tower in Piazza Signiora.
This is the roof of the Baptistry of San Giovanny, the baptistry is a separate structure but is part of the cathedral in the Piazza del Duomo and also the oldest building in the square. Looking up from the front the entire ceiling has 13th century mosaics representi g the last judgement.
Pretty art on display. Women love their high heels in Europe.
From the Baptistry, a magnificent west side door was removed and restored to its almost original state.
The other three doors still remain on the Baptistry in wait for restoration.
This is the last piece that Michelangelo worked on when he was 81 years old. It broke when he found a flaw in the marble with his chisel so it was never completed. However the broken piece was restored after his death and the unfinished sculpture is concidered to be some of his best work. Displayed at the Opera Di Santa Maria Del Fiore Museum.
Entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio and Museum.
Yoly flirting with a statue.
It is good luck to rub the pigs nose, better luck to place a coin in its mouth and rub its nose, even better to have the coin fall from the pigs mouth into the grate while rubbing the pigs nose. After about €1.50 we have all the luck you can buy from a brass pig. The other tourists wait patiently for their turn.
Giotto started to build this tower using green, red and white marble in 1334 then carried on after his death by Andrea Pisano, and finished by Francesco Talenti in 1359. Includes sculptures by Donatello.
Yoly showing how to hug the wall when passing people heading in the opposite direction
Giotto's tower from the top of the Cathedral.
These steps curve up on top of the ceiling of the cathedral underneath the outer roof.
The new flashy Italian sneakers.
It's a shopping mall and a bridge.
A view from our first hike to hills south of town.
Part of the route on our first hike.
It started to rain really hard so we ended up in another church back in town.
There were famous dead people in Santa Croce. Galileo Galilei's tomb
They are buried everywhere
Lots of famous dead people. Michelangelo's tomb
It has been raining so much the grass is turning yellow. This is the Biblioteca Nazionale anexed to Santa Croce.
The front facade of Santa Croce church. Took a couple of centuries to build it and was finished around 1863.
The colors of the flag.
That's a tricky shot from inside a museum, where cameras aren't allowed.
Scooters lined up as far as the eye can see, or at least as far as the camera can see.
An old car on our second hike into the hills.
Looks stunning with all the rain turning every thing green.
Looks like rain again today.
There is suposed to be a beautiful bird in there but all we got were flowers, I wonder if the trees are flowering in Calgary yet?
A view from the garden and cemetery of the Church San Miniato al Monte
Church of San Miniato al Monte, the goal of both days hikes.
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