Day Seven: The Renaissance City

 Well we woke up to a bitter cold wind in Florence and were a bit worried about our walking tour of the "Renaissance City", but we braved the wintry conditions and met our tour guide for the day. Our first stop was Piazzale Michaelangelo where we enjoyed a beautiful panoramic of the entire city of Florence and a replica of the famous sculpture of "David" done by the artistic genius Michelangelo. Next was a trek across the Ponte San Trinita bridge which spans the River Arno and overlooks the famous Ponte Vecchio. Ponte Vecchio is the bridge that is so beautiful that even Adolf Hitler wouldn't destroy it. During WWII every bridge was destroyed in Florence except the Ponte Vecchio.


Panoramic view of Florence, Italy

Looking down the River Arno with Ponte Vecchio in front

After all that time in the elements it was time to visit a couple of indoor places. First was the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore were we saw the outside of the Baptistry, the inside of the beautiful Cathedral which also has the famous Duomo created by Brunelleschi and the famous bell tower created by Giotto. After visiting the Cathedral we took a short cold walk to the Accademia Gallery which is home to several great works of art but none more famous than "David". "David" is the 13 foot tall sculpture done by Michelangelo which depicts the boy who faced off against Goliath. It was very strictly enforced that no pictures be taken but the statue is considered one of Michelangelo's greatest works behind only the "Pieta" in St. Peter's Basilica and the painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. After marveling at "David" as well as 2 lesser known "Pieta"s and 4 unfinished sculptures also done by Michelangelo we decided to eat a quick lunch (which consisted of a dessert that featured several different Chocolates and a glass of 27 year old Sherry) and then visit the Basilica of Santa Croce.

 Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with the Baptistry and Giotto's Belltower

A bronze copy of Michelangelo's "David"

Our assorted chocolates and 27 year old Sherry

Santa Croce or "Church of the Holy Cross" is the final resting place of Michelangelo and Galileo, and it holds a few tributes done to the poet Dante who wrote the "Divine Comedy" and created the Italian language. Dante was an outside thinker and the rulers of Florence banished Dante from the city. After he wrote the "Divine Comedy" and established a new language they desperately wanted him to call Florence home so they made several monuments and paintings and shrines to Dante, but he never returned.

Galileo's Tomb

 Michelangelo's tomb

Painting of Dante reading the "Divine Comedy", notice on te left is hell, the top is the ascention to heaven, Dante is in the center, and Florence is on the right. Dante is outside of hell and outside the gates of Florenece but he is placed directly under the ascention to heaven (This was Florence's way of trying to get Dante to come back to the city he was born in)

Us in front of Santa Croce

After finally having enough of the cold we decided to end our time in Florence about 5 ours earlier than originally planned, and it turned out to be a great decision because when we arrived at the train station we found out there was a big snowstorm just south of Florence and north or Rome which was causing havoc on the transportation system. We caught one of the last trains out of Florence before they started cancelling travel. We arrived in Rome to find it was already snowing and it was forecasted to snow throughout the night. We had a nice dinner then ducked into a cafe to escape the weather, who knows what tomorrow has in store for us. I suppose it depends on this wintry mess!!!

Snowy night in Rome