We blitzed Florence yesterday.  Leaving early we had no trouble parking for the train and taking it smoothly to central Florence.  With time before our 11:30 AM appointment for our "David" tour, we head to the Medici Chapels, which include one designed by Michelangelo (the whole room down to candlesticks was designed by him) and with his famous day/night and dusk/dawn statues.  We then walked to the Duomo (main cathedral) and viewed it, the bell tower and the bapistry from the outside.  Despite a rather long line we decided to wait to get into the duomo.  Surprisingly, the line moved very fast and we were inside within 10 minutes.  It is huge but not really spectacular.

We then went up north a few blocks to wait for our David tour.  This was well done with our sparky guide Maria telling us about all of the artwork there (some paintings and the prisoner statues of Michelangelo) as well as the David.  It was crowded but you could spend as much time as you wanted to see things so that was O.K.  The David is huge and well placed in his own room with large cupola skylight.  We then saw the original school part of the building (the David is in the Academia - the old art school of Florence - which is still an art school by the way) which includes many sculpture plaster models and busts.

We walked to eat lunch at the Frescobaldi wine bar which is part of the famous and rich and venerable Frescobaldi family of the Florence region.  We ate well (pea soup and salad for me, and grilled vegetables for Randy) but expensively (13 euro for my bowl of soup!).  Next was walking to the Palazzo Vecchio to see the David copy and view the crowds.  It was really hot by this time and we walked across the Arno River, which is very nasty looking, and walked up to view the Pitti Palace (home of the Medici's) on the outside.  We walked a little longer and were exceedingly hot and footsore by this time.  We decided to see Santa Croce where Michelangelo and Galileo and others are buried.  We walked back across the Arno and reached near the church when we turned away by police barriers.  They directed us to go around which we did but were turned away again!  Well, apparently that evening Madonna was giving a concert and the city was tied up in barriers and police.  We gave up and got some water in a local bar near the Uffizi and joined our tour there.  Our older guide was passionate about painting but a little long winded.  We viewed the magnificent Giotto and the Leonardo (the high points for me) and also saw the Botticelli and the Michelangelo (the only freestanding painting he ever did).  However, many rooms were closed for renovation and the Rafael's were all moved elsewhere waiting for the new rooms.

We then sprinted (well, a fast power walk) across Florence to the train station to catch the train to Pontassieve with literally five minutes to spare.  We were scolded by the conductor for not validating the tickets properly before boarding the train but he let us off with a stern warning.

Sign for the Medici Chapel

The Medici Chapel building

The facade of the Florence Duomo which only dates from around 1870

Randy with Ghilberti;s doors at the Florence baptistry

The 24 hour clock and painting in the Duomo

Detail of mosaic and carving on the Duomo

Our perky guide at the Academia, Maria

The Giotto's Bell Tower and Duomo in Florence

Another cute Italian waiter - this time at the Frescobaldi wine bar in the central city

My 13 euro bowl of pea and fava bean soup - delicious - but 13 euro - I ask you!

The 7 euro big salad at Frescobaldi - a better deal and also delicious

Frescobaldi - we ate just inside to be quieter and cooler

Alice at the Palazzo Vecchio

Randy with the David copy at Palazzo Vecchio

Exterior of the Ponte Vecchio with the very dirty Arno flowing under it

X marks the place

The private Medici passageway from the Uffizi to the other side of the Arno over the Ponte Vecchio - not open to the public

Us on the Ponte Vecchio taken by an American tourist - we saw loads of young American tourists - mostly university age groups in Florence

Exterior of the Pitti Palace - quite ugly - but the later home of the Medicis

Exterior of Santa Croce - all we got to see thanks to the Madonna concert and the 27 player old time soccer match, a yearly tradition in Florence

Our awesome dinner on the terrace of our apartment in Tuscany

We went to our favorite Penny Market and got dinner fixings (pesto sauce, pasta, salad, ice cream, etc.) and after showers cooked a very nice dinner and at on our little terrace.  We both hit bed with our power units failing and Alice slept over nine hours (like a baby).