Florence

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This city was one of my favorites. A busy city but still with a rural quality. So many streets and so many things to see and do! First order of business? Gelato. Ohhh so worth it. I love that stuff. I could marrry a gelato man. He's got a good job. Its the best ice cream I've ever tasted, I don't even think it can fully be considered ice cream. Its in a class of its own. Ok, enough raving about gelato. I saw the Duomo (almost 500 steps!). I know I did over 500 hundred though because I went down the wrong flight of stairs and the security man made me go back up! I honestly could barely stand for the rest of the day. If I stood still my legs would start wobbling. Really gorgeous view from top though. I took a ton of pictures of the city. It wasn't until later that I realized I was standing on the main landmark that you usually want IN the picture.... oh well. The duomo is important because its the first dome built in the Rennaisance Era. In fact the Vatican's dome is a replica of this one (built by Michaelango (Vatican that is)). The Romans built domes no problem but they were gone and the new builders couldn't figure it out. So Brunelleschi (an architect from Florence) cut a small hole into the Parthenon and designed the dome for the Duomo Cathedral. The people of Florence are very proud of their city. Their art and architecture show them as very competitive with neighboring cities and very proud of their own culture. The lily is their symbol and its in all of their paintings. They're holding it in pictures of the crusades, in pictures of greek mythology, and heck, they even seem to have been there at the birth of Christ. Thats ok though, in the Vatican there are hundreds of pictures where each pope seems to have witnessed the birth of Jesus as well. Must have been croweded... Given the times these people had to be competitive. To give them hope and pride Michaelangelo sculpted the David. Its still in a museum in Florence. I had to wait two hours to see it but I did. Couldn't take pictures but I did take a picture of the replica in the piazza down the street. No one would know the difference! It was really nice to see families owning and running shops together. They still have trades they hand down and they all run the shops. One type of shop that I loved was an Escritorio (hand made stationary and journals). Their stuff was expensive but intricate and it looked like it was worth the money. The blank books were bound in Italian leather and the cards were all hand stamped and embossed. Beautiful colors of ink and beautiful designs. They used a lot of blues and sea foam green and pink oranges and gold. Incredible how this city has kept so much of its culture and history. Walking through the streets in an adventure unto itself (wait till I get started on the creepy Italian men!)

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Photos

Replica of the David
This is the one the birds can sit on and we can take a picture of.--just as good!

Can't remember what this tower is called
Its next to the Duomo anyway

The design thats actually holding the dome up
I don't fully understand it but the jist is that there are actually two domes: one inside the other. And they balance each other. Anyways, heres the inside look between the two