we begin with the Duomo:
our initial view of the Duomo - the buildings around it a pretty tightly packed, so its not like you can see it, we went around a corner and suddenly: there it was!
pink, green & white marble = beautiful
the bell tower of the duomo - you can climb it too, but it isn't as high as the cupola, which is the top of the dome, where we climbed to.
windows with no glass = decorations. but its a good close up of the marble
theres the dome!
isn't it beautiful?
further back of the bell tower, awesome, but its so much cooler in person
ciao martine climbing the stairs!
there are little tiny windows in the staircase - like these - that let you look out over florence
high up?? - nahhh
thats where we're headed!
this was taken at an angle because its impossible to take from the front, but its the devil - part of the last judgement scene
more last judgement - that monster is eating people! good one to look closer!
st. francis of assisi
blue because there is no light in the stairwells, halfway up? maybe more?
martine again - it was pretty dark in there, sorry for the discoloration
bell tower from above
we made it! Firenze from above!
the mountains are beautiful
we decided florence would be a great place to go roof hopping :)
the mountains are SO dramatic
i was trying to show how high up i was - the people are those little things about a centimeter tall....
we found a room of old statues and crests...
i guess they're popes...
baptistry door - made of gold :)
i have to look up what these are scenes of, but they're very intricate and beautiful
cheese!
olives!
meat!
dried fruit!
outside of the Medici Chapels
Medici Chapels, and basically what all of Florence looks like
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The next set of pictures are all taken at Piazza dell Signora, which is the old gathering center of Florence. All of the statues are assembled there and are free to look at :)
ew, medusa's head. actually, this is a cool statue
rape of the sabine women
i forget what this is, I'll look it up and get back to it
one of the sabine women
hercules killing the centaur
more rape of the sabine women - probably one of the coolest statues ever
with the piazza behind it
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Ponte Vecchio at night - this is the oldest bridge in all of Florence and the only original one to survive world war II
from the bridge, at night
other side of the bridge, sorry these are kinda blurry...
all of the river by night
ponte vecchio, it has tons of shops & houses (not sure if anyone lives in them though) over it
across the river
isn't florence lovely?
some stairs we found to go down :)
on our exploratory walk of florence, we found a door handle - I thought it was cool
a pillar, too bad we can't read latin or else we'd be able to know what everything is
florence's bridges, by day
beautiful!
tons of tourists on ponte vecchio
thats a better view of it, by day, you can see the shops/homes
awesome arches by the river
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now, we've arrived at Santa Croce!
facade!
more pink, green and white marble, except this one only has a facade, not the whole church
very pretty - and huge
more of the facade
more of the facade
this is blurry, but basically, they spent so much time on the outside, the inside is awfully plain
oops, we found a chocolate market (bad idea) outside of Santa Croce!
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then we went to Boboli gardens
view of tuscany from the top of the gardens - notice the sun has come out
isn't tuscany one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen?
an old wall
toscana
more of toscana
more, its so gorgeous!
just a lovely little fountain
gate way, thats florence you can see below the mountains
we found a little covered walkway
what a beautiful statue
we found a fountain! these pictures are a little dark...
the fountain was the size of a small pond :)
another cat, gracie
a statue that we found when we were wandering, I'm still not so sure we were allowed there, but hey, its cool...
...because....I found my favorite statue in Italy! we weren't sure who it is or what its of, but we're thinking adam and eve. or maybe water people because its in a lagoon and theres a mermaid at their feet....
look at those faces :)
the little mermaid
the top of the grotto/lagoon, with their faces in it...such a gorgeous mosaic
again, another cat
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Now, we're at Piazzale Michaelangelo, above the city!
Ponte Vecchio and the Arno from above
the duomo with the mountains in the background. That tiny white circular part at the top (the cupola), is where we were :)
Piazza dell Signora - the place with the free statues - and its bell tower
oh, firenze, you are lovely.
sunset over the tuscan hills
dusk over florence - duomo in the middle, piazza dell signora to the left (the tall bell tower) and to the right, Santa Croce, you can see its facade...
another close up of the duomo
more of the sunset
fake david :) (sorry, no pictures of the real one because its not allowed :( )
olive grove/tuscan hills
david with the sunset behind him
