Italy with Kids - Florence 3 and at the Campground

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24 Sept 2008

And today was my day! Both Kylie's and my tour were booked through expedia. She took the Gucci and Prada Shopping Tour and I took the "Florence Through the Lens" tour. I met my guide Marco at the SS Anunziata square. As it turned out, I was the only one for the morning, so we managed to cover quite a bit of ground. Marco was an excellent guide. He explained various aspects of the city and buildings as we walked around, and gave me pointers on getting the best light and camera settings. We looked into a number of churches, a free Palazzo, and cloisters in buildings, all of which I (or Kylie) would never have come across on our own.






















After the tour ended, I hunted down an internet cafe to see if my ticket bookings for the Uffizi had come through, but they hadn't. I tried waiting in line but after 20min and moving 1 meter I opted out and instead walked to the Piazzale Michelangelo, and took photos of the amazing Monastery of San Miniato. the Galleria dell Academia also had a line out front so I skipped that as well (more things to visit when we come back).



I also looked in the Museo del Bargello, which was hosting scale reproductions of some of Dante's sculptures, as well as some fascinating ivory, wood, bronze carvings, boxes and the rest. I also saw a display of working models from Leonardo Da Vinci's codices just north of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.



Doug was extremely excited on his return, dying to show me everything that he photographed. Also he found the "Save the Queen' shop! Will have to look at that on Friday. What he doesn't tell you is that he was sore from all of the walking and wanted a day of rest the next day.

the boys and I played lots of games and ended with mini-golf. liam made a friend of an English girl that he had met on Monday. Her mother came up to me and gave me an exuberant greeting like we were great friends, even though I'd never met her before.

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