Posting regularly is getting harder and harder as the cities have had more to see and we have spent more time in each one.  I have been taking more pictures with each location which then leads to more editing and sorting. On the flip side it has helped me to reach my goal of taking 10,000 pictures this summer. While I’m still not there and only a small percent of the shots are any good, I am getting close to hitting that number.

Florence was amazing and overwhelming. There was so much art and history that it was hard to take it all in. It was also extremely hot which meant that we finished every day exhausted.  I’m not sure how we did it (although Gail was likely part of the determining factor), but we kept getting up and getting after the next site (or climbing the next tower). We picked up the Firenze card which made all the difference in the world to be able to skip lines and not waist energy standing or getting overly frustrated with the crowds.

We had the opportunity to check out Il Duomo by climbing both the Dome and the Campanile del Duomo, each of which offered great views of the city, as well as a closer look at the building itself. The Cathedral is stunning and you get the idea of how massive it is compared to the rest of the city and how it must have stood out when they built it.

We also toured the Uffizi and the Accademia taking in all the art work, which is way more than you can appreciate in a day, but it leaves you wiped in terms of all that this city paid for and created at its peak.

We also checked out the Palazzo Vecchio, Brancacci Chapel, Pitti Palace, Santa Croce, Santa Maria de Novella, Palazzo Medici, Bobelli Gardens, the Fort and maybe a couple of other things that I am forgetting.  I am sounding more like a tour book than a blog, but I’m partially writing it all down here so I can remember in 2 months what all we saw.

Over the course of a week in Florence we also got a chance to eat some really good Italian food and gelato. One of the best meals (if I do say so myself) is the one that Gail, Caitlin and I made ourselves during our Italian cooking class.  Normally I think we would have gained weight, but when averaging about 47 flights of stairs and 10 miles a day we were able to stay about even.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Santa Maria Novella

Il Duomo so nice and clean. Chopped off the bottom of the church to hide the massive numbers of people.

The view from the Campanile.

Modern art by Jan Fabre

Il Duomo, I think you get the point.

Gail in the Baptisterio

Bill and Gail on the top of the Dome. Gail was determined to climb everything.

Buggy and Il Duomo

Robes going tot the Baptistry.

Caitlin in front of Il Duomo with her Firenze pass on getting ready to geek out for the day.

More modern art, I think this one was called conductor of the skies.

Ceiling of one of the rooms of the Signoria

Ponte Vecchio

Arches in Florence

Uffizi right at opening, Caitlin dusting all of us.

Ceiling of the Uffizi

Il Duomo from the fort.

Pitti Palace. So much artwork.

Hard to stop taking pictures of it. Il Duomo.

The mirror above one of the leather worker station’s

Top of Il Duomo

The view of Firenze