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Florence
Next stop was what our friend described as the best city
in Europe. Let's see if it lives up to the hype...
Florence is definitely the place to get art fatigue. There
are so many art treasures that it is really hard to absorb all of them at once.
So we decided to just visit the most famous monuments and two major museums:
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The Fake David
This is a replica of the most famous sculpture in the world where the original once stood. It is now in the Galeria dell' Accademia to protect it from the elements. |
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The Real David
Of course Ronnie is doing another impression of the statue:) Pics weren't allowed so you are seeing an unauthorized bootleg shot |
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Gallerie degli Uffizi
Next stop for art fatigue. The square is filled with artists and street performers. It looks gray in this pic, but at night... |
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Uffizi by night
it gets illuminated with magic lights |
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Botticelli's Birth of Venus
This is one of the many masterpieces in this museum. Another smuggled pic:) |
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Gates of Paradise
These are the famous bronze East Doors of the Battistero cast by Ghiberti. Michelangelo thought they were so beautiful that they could grace the entrance to Paradise, hence the name. |
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Loggia dei Lanzi
An outdoor sculpture gallery. We had our best dinner here, sitting along its walls, munching on take away paninis and enjoying the free music from the street performers. |
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Campanille Vista
We climbed 414 steps to the top of the church tower for these spectacular views... |
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Viewing Deck
and to take some wacky pics |
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Duomo
This is the best place to get a great shot of the Duomo, one of the landmarks of Florence. |
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Instead of scary processions, Florence celebrates Easter with
the Scoppio del Carro, which includes:
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Men in Tights |
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a costume parade which winds across the town's streets and occassionally stops to allow italian men in tights to perform a traditional flag ceremony... |
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The Duomo is on fire! |
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and culminates with the explosion of an elaborately decorated cart armed with fireworks, in front of the cathedral. |
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For our last afternoon in Florence, we did one of our
favorite free tourist things to do in Europe, hanging out by a beautiful bridge
and waiting for sunset. The prettiest bridge in Florence is the Ponte Vecchio,
lined with colorful buildings which house goldsmith shops.
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Monet shot of the Vecchio |
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Since the light suddenly became perfect for taking pics, I allowed Ronnie free time to play with his camera:) |
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Fishing during sunset |
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He was able to get some great pics! |
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Titanic shot |
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and he allowed us to take this corny shot:) |
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Follow
the
link for more pics...
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