Our apartment in the old, historic city center of Florence, just one block away from the Duomo.
We have to go up nine flights of stairs to get here.
It's alot but worth the trip.
Yesterday turned out to be a shopping day. Here are all the goodies we bought.
I bought some more paper today; one sheet looks like this.
This morning we went straight to Santa Maria del Fiore.
First there's the baptistry.
There's Jesus getting sprinkled up above Ghiberti's bronzed doors.
Out of all the sites in Florence I think Steve most wanted to see the bronze doors and the Duomo.
The Gates of Paradise.
Giotto's 278 foot high Campanile.
Then Steve wanted to go up to the top of Brunelleschi's Duomo to get a nice, 360 degree view of the city.
I thought of the 436 steep, narrow steps and said I'd go check out the shops while he went up.
Halfway up there's a great view of the inside of the church including a closer look at the Last Judgment on the inside of the dome ceiling.
Up on top the view is spectacular. Here's a view of the dome of the Medici chapel and San Lorenzo, right next to our apartment.
Here's the panorama view up on top.
And another view of Santa Croce.
It's hard to get a sense of the size of these massive buildings until you stand next to one and look up.
Then you realize just how grand they are and how tiny you are.
This morning we had the most delicious pastries at a little pasticceria that also serves food so we went back for lunch (and a couple more pastries).
Our next stop was San Lorenzo. Here's the unfinished facade, and the dome of the Medici chapel in the background. They don't allow pictures inside but we saw the church's own fresco'd dome, paintings lining the walls, and several tombs. Donatello's tomb is inside as are several members of the Medici family. And then there are all the many relics with bone fragments of various saints. This is a church that loves to keep old bones on display.
Then I had to get snack for Evan.
And one for Steve too.
There's this gelato shop that has 3 times the flavors any other gelateria has. Since last time we wrote we've tried pineapple, macedonia (kiwi, banana, strawberry, and apple), agrumi di sicilia (orange and lemon), dark chocolate, orange chocolate, pistachio, mint, strawberry mousse, pelizia al limone (a creamy lemon), coconut, and yogurt with mixed fruit.Mmm, delicious.
We had some dinner, too. It's not all pastries and gelato after all.
