Florence, Italy

After a day in Florence I have to say that it is the most beautiful city we've been in so far, and that says a lot. The trip from Venice to the Florence train station, to our hostel in downtown Florence was pleasantly uneventful. Once unpacked, we headed out to explore the city. We aimlessly walked around the city and ended up on the opposite side of the river from the main city and climbed a hill to eat our lunch. The view from the top was amazing (-->).

We watched the sun slowly set over the city from the top of the hill, then we walked down to the main bridge and river walk and again were amazed at the beauty of the city.

When we got back to the city center we checked out the Basilica di' Santa Croce. The Santa Croce is definitely the best old church we've seen, and we've seen our fair share of old churches. Not only is it stunning from the outside, but the history and art inside of it is equally amazing. The church has the tombs of Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and many other famous Italians. Pretty cool.

We finished our stroll by walking around the Piazza dell Signoria (that's Plaza of the Signoria for the non-Italian readers). The piazza is filled with ancient statues (albeit some are replicas) that are incredible. The shear volume of sculptures really surprised me. The statues of rape scenes and men getting their heads chopped off surprised Lara.

The following day (Thursday 10/1) was our 'Museum Day'. We followed the advice of our invaluable Lonely Planet - Italy book and purchased tickets to the Galleria dell' Academia (David) and Galleria Uffizi ahead of time to avoid the lines and set out. Our first stop was the Academia to see the Statue of David. The museum itself wasn't anything to blog home about, but the Statue of David was. Seeing this incredible piece of work really makes me wish I had paid more attention in my art history class. I think Lara's highlight of the trip to the Academia was sneaking a picture of David when we weren't supposed to (that's me to the left acting as an accomplice).

After David we headed to the Duomo (huge dome in the first picture). The Duomo wasn't as cool as the Santa Croce inside, but the climb to the top of the dome and the view from the top can't be beat. 463 tight, narrow steps to the top; not for the faint of heart.

With our cardio workout complete for the day, we headed to the Uffizi. The Uffizi is billed as the national art gallery of Italy. Inside, we saw works of art from Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo, and Master Splinter. Like the plaza outside, the volume of pieces of work, especially from artists I've actually heard of, was incredible. Unfortunately, the sheer size of the museum made it painful. There are 55 rooms displaying thousands of paintings, sculptures, murals, and even globes. We spent 2.5 hours walking the museum, of which, 1.5 hours were spent walking by paintings of 'Madonna with Child'. I'm not joking.