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Shopping district! Florence is known for producing Italian leather and gold.
The real David is protected in the Academy of Fine Arts building and the one on the street that everyone sees is actually a copy.
Florence Cathedral. It was massive!
Again, once youāre baptized, the door leaving the baptistery toward the church is beautiful because it begins your path to God. Each of the panels on this door tells multiple stories.
Baptistery, also in the Piazza del Duomo, right next to the church. This one is named after John the Baptist.
What theā¦?
They learned from the disaster in Pisa, and constructed this tower with lots of open spacesā especially at the top ā to keep it as light as possible.
I know someone else who played the accordion!
Il Duomo!
This is the artist. He worked on it for so long and did such an amazing job, the Church let him carve himself into the sculpture.
Part of the original facade. This was a parking space - a place to tie horses.
And back to the ship. As if we hadnāt already eaten enough, we came back to this appetizer plate in our cabin! Yum.
Story of Adam and Eve
Florence (Firenza in Italian) means āCity of Flowers,ā and itās official flower is the Lily.
Part of the original walls. They built them around the original city and it kept growing so much they moved and expanded the walls 6 times before they eventually tore them down. There are only a handful of areas where the original walls are still standing.
The original Medici home.
David! His body seems to be weirdly out of proportion - his hands, for example, seem much larger than they should be. This wasnāt a mistake. Michelangelo was originally commissioned to sculpt David for placement near the top of the Duomo tower. So, he proportioned David to look normal when viewing from far below. However, in the end, he was far too heavy to safely put him at the top of the tower (think: Pisa), so they put him in the piazza instead.
Dante is practically synonymous with Florence.
This area was used as a stage for public forums and plays. It now houses a large collection of original sculptures.
The Mediciās were one of the richest families in Italy. They gained their wealth as bankers. Figures.
I always wondered why David was a big deal - like, who was this guy? I fully admit it never occurred to me that āDavidā is a portrayal of the guy who fought Goliath, one of the most inspirational stories in the Bible. This was pretty stupid on my partā I mean, heās even holding a slingshot.
Perseus holding Medusaās head! š³
Hercules
Galileo
This was how they used to serve wine and bread on the streets. They used to be little wooden doors. Youād knock on the little door and theyād open it and serve. The original fast food, I guess.
First view of the Pitti Palace.
Ponte Vecchio. Many of the original bridges in Italy were destroyed during World War II. The Ponte Vecchio somehow survived and is one of the last original bridges in Italy.
Michelangelo!
The Medici family eventually moved to a new place, the Pitti Palace, which is huge. \240They populated the area with statues of famous artists, philosophers, and scientists. Hereās Macchiavelli.
This is Juliana, our tour guide in Pisa and Florence. She was fantastic! In this pic, she was showing us the high water mark from the 1844 flood. Apparently, Florence is highly prone to flooding
Look for the second plaque in the middle of the picture. This was the high water mark in the 1966 flood!
Amerigo Vespucci
We stopped at an authentic Floretine restaurant for a meal. The bread was weird, but the pasta was excellent.
Another section of the original walls.
Dante! I guess he made a lot of references to Florence in Inferno and many of the streets display a plaque with a quote from the book thatās related to that area in Florence. Could swear I took a few pictures of those plaques, butā¦nope.
Tuscan countryside
Selfie at David.
Selfie at the Ponte Vecchio
Just thought this was pretty.
Il Gina. Lol.
View of the city.
Il Duomo!
Cosmos Medici - on the horse in the background - he thought pretty highly of himself, and put his face on the statue of Neptune in the foreground
