Tuscany, Italy

Florence, Part 1

[Things have changed since in Florence, with the Duomo area cleared of traffic and popular spots spruced up]

Florence had so much to see that we stayed 3 days. It's the second most visited city in Italy after Rome, and there were quite a few tourists milling the streets and sights. Luckily, we saw most of the popular stuff like the Uffizi Galleries and the Pitti Palace without waiting. The splendour of the city is marvelous, considering the age of it's many buildings, churches and bridges.


The gigantic Cathedral of Florence	The cathedral and Campanile (Bell Tower)

You can climb to the top of the Campanile	This is an "external" look down from the tower

Look at the size of the Duomo	Inside the Campanile

A look down from within the Campanile	The side of the Cathedral from the Campanile

The gilded bronze doors of the Bapistry next to the Cathedral	The Cathedral is quite impressive seen from the many streets of Florence leading to it

To one side of Palazzo Vecchio is a hall with numerous herioc statues. A copy of Michelangelo's David is to the left (the original is in the Galleria dell'Academia)	Another impressive pose

Nope, this ain't a statue but an artist posing outside the Uffizi Galleries	The inside of the Dome of the Cathedral

Italians love their rooftop terraces to relax (so would I)	Look down onto the streets from the Campanile

Sunset along the Arno river	The Ponte Vecchio bridge dates from the 14th century

The middle of Ponte Vecchio	Precarious-looking "add-on's" to Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio	Ponte alla Carraia

Ponte Vecchio houses numerous Goldsmiths	A lot of Pinocchios in this storefront

Palazzo Pitti	The Galleria Palatina inside Palazzo Pitta has some extravagant rooms. Some of them were so overdone with thick wall fabric that I felt claustrophobic despite their huge size.

Palazzo Pitti at sunset	The small but beautiful porcelain museum in the Boboli Gardens in Palazzo Pitti is in this building

The view from the gardens next to the porcelain musem	One of the many Sevres pieces in the porcelain museum

Relaxing in the porcelain museum	The court jester in Palazzo Pitti

Buontalenti's Grotto in the Boboli Gardens of Palazzo Pitti	The Kaffeehaus in the Boboli Gardens

Downtown kiddie shop	Colourful veggies for sale

More veggies..	..

One the nice courtyards in the many palaces of Florence	Huge old iron gratings protecting windows can be seen all over town

Basilica di Santa Croce	A pretty determined looking lion outside Santa Croce

Plaque for Leonardo da Vinci inside Santa Croce	Dante's Cenotaph in Santa Croce

The cloisters in Santa Croce	Henry Moore bronze in Santa Croce

Dante watching the goings on outside Santa Croce	Fancy doorknob

Evening musicians rendering Italian tunes	Didn't know Maccheronis were so popular around here that a square got named for them...

Palace courtyard	Large iron rings can be found on many of the old buildings

Fancy doorbell	Olde fountain

A quiet square	"when you messa witha mafia you landa upa inna ded enda.."

Checking out some of Florence's Ice Cream	Tiramisu