A Busy Day in Florence

Today was a busy day from start to finish.  An early breakfast was followed by a climb top the top of the Duomo...463 stairs if you believe the writings about it.  I went  with a very nice couple from Washington state, Dean and Sandy, and a woman from near home, in Oxford, MI, Barbara.  We made it to the top of the dome in about 20 minutes, sweaty and out of breath, but the view was great!  It's the highest man made structure in Florence, and even though it was hazy, the views out over the city were tremendous.

 The second picture was taken inside the dome on the way back down.  The structure is actually built with a dome inside a dome, and all those stairs are in between the two.  What's shown here is actually the inner dome that is the roof of the cathedral, and the light area in the center is the cupola where we actually climbed up to and were able to walk all the way around the outside.

After climbing down I went with Dean and Sandy on a hike to the other side of the river to check out a
church there we had been told had  some great views as well as being spectacular structures in their own right.  The views there looked out over the whole city, not just from the city center looking out, as the ones from the Duomo did.  The rounded structure on the right is the Duomo I've been referring to, and we were at the very top, walking around the cupola.  Sandy didn't like it very much when I wiggled the rail as we were getting our picture taken up there; I wonder why!

The last picture is of me next to the Arno River.  It's a very picturesque place and the still water and calm
breezes made it even more so, the reflections really
showing up in the water.

In the afternoon we got together with the group for a trip to the Uffizi.  Once a city building,it became a private art gallery and home to the Medici family in centuries gone by, but is now a museum.  No pictures were allowed there, but we saw all the masters and had a great local guide to tell us all about what was going on in the paintings, the circumstance surrounding them when they were painted, etc., and generally keeping things interesting for us.  Many props to Cindy for her work.

Well it's late and I'm tired from climbing about a thousand (really!) steps today.  It's up early and on to Rome tomorrow.  Ciao!