Florence

After a full and exhausting three days in Rome, we were ready to slow down in Florence.  That only partially happened as we still walked a lot in Florence and spent a lot of time on our feet.  Where Rome was about ancient ruins, Florence was primarily about art.  At least Florence is mostly level with very few hills, so that was an improvement for walking after Rome.

We arrived in Florence Monday via Eurostar train.  We did some exploring on our own and found a nice restaurant for dinner.  One of the bridges in Florence, the Ponte Vecchio, is quite famous for the elegant jewelry shops located on the bridge, so (of course) we had to see that.  There are some photos of that in the Florence photo album.  We also walked through the extensive outdoor market where the vendors have overrun the traditional vendors selling from storefronts.  Leather is particularly favored in Florence and there were more leather shops and vendors than you could visit in three days.

Tuesday morning was our organized walking tour which included visiting the Accademia Gallery where Michelangelo's David is displayed.  That was really the highlight of the walking tour as the statue of David is really magnificent in person.  It is also much bigger and taller than I thought, which was quite a surprise.  Unfortunately, you cannot take photos in the museum, so you will have to click here for photos and more information about the sculpture.

Tuesday afternoon we took the additional tour of the Uffizi Gallery, which contains an extensive and fantastic collection of artwork from the most famous Italian artists.  Our tour guide for the Uffizi was a very knowledgable young woman who gave us an overview Italian art history class in about 3 hours.  Because the Uffizi is organized chronologically, she showed us the progression of art techniques and styles over many centuries, from Medieval through the Renaissance.  It was really very interesting and she was fantastic.

Florence was not nearly as photogenic as the ruins and the sites in Rome, so I took fewer photos.  But, below are a few favorites, and the link to the full album is also below.

Florence Photo Album