Ate breakfast and then took a leisurely walk to the Piazza Della Signoria by
the statue of Perseus to meet our tour guide. We were early but at 8:45 there
were only 12 of us there- 14 were late. At 9:00 we started and our guide
Ricardo did an excellent job of pointing out some of the many high points of
Florence and their historical significance. We wandered through the courtyard
of the Uffizi, saw the Ponte Vecchio, walked along the River Arno, and viewed
the Piazza Santa Croce, the Bargello, the Duomo, Bell Tower and Baptistry. It is
amazing for such a relatively small city, 400,000 people, the importance that
Florence has in the history of Italy and to the world in terms of art. Since we
had been to Florence on our trip to Tuscany we didn't tour the Uffizi, the
Duomo, Baptistry, Bell Tower or the Academy of Fine Arts with the statue of
David. Although if you haven't seen them they should be your first stops in
Florence. Instead we crossed the river and went to the Berini Gardens where we
could get panoramic views of the city of Florence. From there we passed Fort
Belvedere, went to the Boboli Gardens and saw the outside of Pitti Palace, home
of the Medici. We crossed back over the river and wandered the city center for
awhile. Since we worked up a thirst we stopped at a Pub for a beer. As I said before, walking makes you thirsty. We have been averaging nearly about 9 miles of walking a
day with the travel days pulling our average down. We then stopped at the
church of San Lorenzo. We went back to the hotel to drop off some purchases and
rest and then went back out to dinner later. We were going to go to a
restaurant close by but when we looked at the menu the choices seemed too heavy
for what we wanted. So we went back to Enjoy the restaurant we had gone to the
day before. This time Ron had a Calzone and I had his black pasta. Great day in
Florence tomorrow on to Venice!
Piazza della Signoria
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| Statue of David - Original in the Academy of Fine Arts |
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| Statue of Perseus |
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| Michelangelo |
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| El Duomo |
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| The Bell Tower |
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| The Bapistry |
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| Façade of El Duomo |
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| Tea and a Sacher Cake for a snack |
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| Ponte Vecchio |
Views of Florence from Berini Gardens
Views of Boboli Gardens
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| Pitti Palace |
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| Love the views of Ponte Vecchio |
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| Basilica of San Lorenzo |
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| Basilica of San Lorenzo |
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| Basilica of San Lorenzo |
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