Florence is much busier than Venice, with Vespas and small cars everywhere, but not an SUV in sight. It's a mecca for art lovers.  (Bob, a college art major, was in heaven.)  We visited five museums: the Uffizi, Accademia, Bargello, San Marco and Duomo Museum.   A busy three days, but it's not as intimidating as it sounds.  The local guides directed us to the most important and notable pieces, discussing the history of art, the artist, and the city, all intertwined.  It provided such a rich perspective, and we learned much more than at the few museums we visited on our own.

Unfortunately, most of the museums don't allow pictures, so we have mostly exterior shots.  Of course, there's all the amazing architecture outside.  We probably took at least a dozen photos just of Giotto's belltower, with the multicolored marble and intricate facade.

The highlight of Florence had to be Michelangelo's David.  No matter how many photos you've seen, it's quite amazing to see the sculpture up close.

Above: the historic Ponte Vecchio over the Arno River.  The bridge is a major tourist mecca and the traditional site of numerous goldsmith's shops.

At right: the arch and buildings in front are part of Uffizi Gallery, originally the offices of the Medici family. The tower in back belongs to the Palazzo Vecchio. 		  
Above: The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. Unlike most art of the day, it represents not a Christian story but a classical myth.  Paintings like this would later come back to haunt the Medicis when religous conservatives temporarily gained power. We had a chance to see this in person, along with Allegory of Spring, in the Uffizi Gallery.

At left: One of Michelangelo's Pietà sculptures in the Duomo Museum. This unfinished work was intended for his own grave and features his own face on Joseph of Arimathea.

Florence is noted for art, but do they tell you about the shopping? The San Lorenzo Market is a great place to pick up all the gifts for folks back home. Unfortunately, we planned to spread our spending dollars over the three cities, but Rome was not nearly as interesting for shopping ventures. Besides all the Murano glass in Venice (OK, Diane splurged on the great jewelry there,) Florence was the place to exercise your credit card.
Right: Our group at the Perini stall in the food section of the San Lorenzo Market. The Perini family grows and processes a vast array of cheeses, meats, sauces, dried mushrooms and tomatoes...too much to name. We had lunch at their stall, where we tried lots of tasty tidbits.  We brought home some pecorino cheese and porcini mushrooms.
   


Above left: Santa Croce Church. Notables buried here include four guys so famous they're known by only one name: Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli and Michelangelo.

Above Right: The Baptistery, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore (AKA the Duomo) and Giotto's campanile.  The photos just don't do it justice.
Left: Eight of panels of the Baptistry doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti, which became known as "The Gates of Heaven." These are copies, but we saw the original door panels in the Duomo Museum. They show amazing distance perspective, given that they're carved out of just a few inches of bronze.

Do you need to speak the language?
In the large cities of Italy, you can certainly get by on English, but it's helpful to know basic Italian pleasantries and phrases. Diane studied Italian way back in high school, and used some DVDs and the Rick Steves phrase book for a refresher before the trip. She was so proud of herself when she could ask a shopkeeper "Dove posso comprare le pile?" (Where can I buy batteries?) However, it turns out you have to be much more fluent when the shopkeeper repies with directions in Italian!


Right: Looking straight up, the interior of the Baptistery dome is covered by gilded mosaics.  To the left of Christ (your right,) are some pretty gory scenes of the Last Judgement.  Writer Dante Alighieri visited this church as a boy.  Did this ceiling inspire some of Dante's Inferno ?

We also visited the Pitti Palace, where the Medici family lived. "Lavish" doesn't even begin to describe it.  Room after room of paintings, sculpture, and magnificent mosaic tables.  While each individual piece was beautiful, the total effect was garish and overwhelming.

With all that art, another cool place we visited is the Science Museum.  If you're interested in inventions, this has working models to demonstrate the laws of acceleration, and interesting "parlor games" to create electromagnatism.



Florence food adventures: rabbit cattiatore and onion jelly (both excellent.)