After the Cinque Terre, we headed down to Florence, or as it was referred to there, Firenze. Florence was a beautiful city with lots to do. It had a completely different feel to it - more "artsy" than the other places we visited. We went to the Accademia, where we saw Michaelangelo's David, and we also toured the Uffizi gallery, which is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the Western world. We also toured the Galileo museum which contained a lot of the tools used by the brilliant inventor and other contemporaries of his time. There's also the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio, other things for which Florence is famous. Another thing for which we will always remember Florence for is Grom, THE best gelato ever. I think we visited there twice a day every day! We stayed at a nice place called Residenza Giotto, where we could view the Duomo out of our balcony window. It was located right next door to Gucci :) That was another thing we thought was pretty cool - seeing all those high fashion designer stores mixed right in there along with all the ancient architecture. Here are some of the Florence pics...
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| View of the Duomo and the cathedral complex, from our balcony at Residenza Giotto |
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| Interior ceiling of the Duomo |
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| We climbed up to the top of the Duomo. It wasn't for anyone claustrophobic, that's for sure. |
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| Views of the city from the top of the Duomo |
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| Going back down... |
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| Ponte Vecchio, the oldest and most famous bridge in Florence |
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| Close up of the shops built on the bridge |
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| Our view as we ate our breakfast on our hotel balcony |
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| Preston enjoying his morning cappuccino |
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| Ponte Vecchio and Arno River |
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| Campanile de Giotto |
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| Another of Florence's bridges across the Arno River |
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| Looking back at Florence from the Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace (which was once the seat of the Medici family) |
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| The gardens were filled with the most beautiful peonies |
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| Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio |
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| Piazza della Repubblica |
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| Grom, our FAVORITE gelato place. It was so good! I don't even like ice cream, but I loved the gelato from Grom |
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| Piazza della Repubblica |
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| Storm clouds rolling in |
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| The Baptistry is an octagon shaped building best known for it's bronze doors, which exquisitely depict scenes from the Bible |
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| They put bars up around the bronze doors at night |
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| Carousel on the Piazza della Repubblica |
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| Duomo at night |
