Firenze (Florence)

Sorry it's taken so long to get our pics from Florence, but my blogger has not let me upload for a few days...better late than never! We went to Florence for three days last week and had such a great time- the drive was beautiful and we even had a day with no rain! I think we saw about every inch of the city and even got to spend a lot of time at the Uffizi (the room with the Botticelli's was our favorite here), the Academy (we saw the David!) , and the Duomo (the famous Dome and church of Florence). If you haven't been here before, it is definitely a must see- I honestly don't have one bad thing to say about this city.

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Below is the view we had from our hotel balcony- we were right on the river a few blocks from the Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi!

The famous Ponte Vecchio- it's the oldest bridge in Florence and was built in 1345 (it's right next to the Uffizi). What was originally workshops, butchers, and tanner shops are now some amazing gold and antique jewelery shops. The Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore)! The dome of the duomo is what makes this such an engineering marvel- Brunelleschi dome was the largest of it's time that was done without scaffolding. It's hard to see in pictures (they don't do it justice), but the entire outside of the duomo is made with white, green, and pink Tuscan marble and this picture only shows a tiny bit of the HUGE church! Part of the Duomo, this is the Campanile (also known as Giotto's tower) built in 1334. We actually walked all the way to the top- over 430 steps (I needed a nap afterwards!)! A view from the top of the Campanile- so beautiful! Another view of the city from the top. Ashleigh and I at the Bargello- leave it to the sorority girls to pose with their mascot!

Karl and I on the Ponte Vecchio...awwww :) Me and Miss Jean! Another shot of the Duomo (sorry it's out of order) I was soooo excited to see this after all those years of art history- this is Ghiberti's "Gate of Paradise" which are the doors the the baptistry of the Duomo- commissioned in 1401. They were so different from Florentine Gothic Art, that they are often said to be the finest products of the Renaissance! Beautiful Santa Croce- built in 1294 it holds the tombs of some VERY famous Florentines including Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Ghiberti.

Karl being photographer and taking a cool pic :) Leonardo Da Vinci's tomb! Michelangelo's tomb Courtyard of Santa Croce We had so many great pics, it was hard to choose which to post, but I'll have Snapfish album up soon and I'll put up a post! Next blog, I'll have our Pompeii and Almafi Coast pics and I'll try to get up a new baby bump pic (we find out Monday if it's a boy or girl)!!!