Meandering in Mesa: Europe trip part 4

Our next city was Firenze...Florence if you don't speak Italian. Which we don't, but we were only in the tourist centers so there was no problem. It still rather blows my mind how many people have learned to speak English. We are quite spoiled that people do that for us.
Our place in Florence was a whole apartment, just a couple of blocks from the city center, had air conditioning!!!, and was very comfortable. It was on the 4th floor though, and the toilet was just under shower head. Those stairs were a tight fit. There are so many things you just would never see at home! I think it's just fun to experience all the variety. We really enjoyed this city and could have stayed a bit longer and found lots to do and see.

I don't think it was built for our size :)

The bathroom really wasn't a problem.

The bed fits so all's well!

We found an indoor market place just a block away, that had fruit and vegetables, meat, knickknack vendors and restaurants. They also sold prepared food vendors. We got our dinner there. Authentic Italian food. Delicious.

Afterward we went for a walk. So much public art!

Well, there's art and then there's art!

We wandered around the Cathedral and bought tickets to climb to the dome the next day. The line to go in wasn't too long so we went inside. I was impressed by the airy feel of the interior. The exterior is so colorful and highly decorated that it contrasted sharply with the rather plain interior. Only the interior of the dome itself has paintings which are gorgeous!

Across from the cathedral is the Baptistery, built in early 1100s. We were sad it was closed but the doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti are famous and rightly so. Michelangelo called them the gates of Paradise.

Can you guess which Old Testament story this depicts? Hint: Look at the top of the panel.

New Testament.

The next day was our museum day. We visited the Uffizi museum in the morning and then the Accademia in the afternoon.

Poseidon!

We had bought our tickets before we even left the US..skipped a long line! Just had to pick them up. Yea!

The whole place is so full of Amazing art. A few examples.

I want to know how they get two colors of marble like this.

Through out the building, the ceilings are decorated and there are paintings of important people just beneath. It just staggers my mind to think of all the time and energy put into them.

We saw so many works we recognized, the Birth of Venus, Madonna of the long neck, pieces by Titian, Caravaggio, de Vinci, Fra Angelico, I can't even list them. We loved it! However, the feet get tired.

View from a window of the Uffizi

After a morning of museum walking, we were glad for a lunch break. Then we went to the Accademia...The home of Michelangelo's David...among other masterpieces!

He is stunning!

This is my favorite view of him, I think because of his expression. There is an intensity and firmness of purpose in his face, without going fanatical. Great Job Michelangelo!

We didn't even get to go inside this room! So much to see!

It made me laugh to see McDonalds and Subway almost next door to each other.

We hurried to get to our appointment at the Duomo but couldn't find the entrance for a while. We were almost too late, but finally got there. It was good in a way, cause I might have chickened out. My knees don't like stairs, but I didn't have time to consider, just started on up. The dome of the cathedral is a double dome with space between the interior and exterior. They were built with scaffolding on the building itself rather than from the ground which was an innovation then too!