We are off to Florence this morning with Steve & Mary Ann along with Jeff & Claire and Larry & Pat. Steve had booked our van for the day and “Johnny” was our driver. Giovanni was his real name, but for short he said we could call him Johnny. Just before reaching Florence we stop by for a quick look at the US Cemetery from WW11. This was something I hadn’t read about and it was a pleasant surprise. It is the final resting place for more than 4000 Americans who died in the liberation of Italy during the war.
Upon reaching Florence our first stop is at the Piazzale Michelangelo. It has wonderful views over Florence and the dome of the Duomo and a bronze statue of David modeled after Michelangelo’s David found in the Academia which is closed today. Next we go through the city walls and across the Arno River into downtown and visit the Santa Croce church where the tombs of Galileo, Dante, Michelangelo, and Marconi are located. After the visit inside the church Johnny takes us to the leather school to see demonstrations of how leather is hand made into many items. Tim found a jacket he liked, but was unwilling to give the 1000 euros they were asking for it. Lunch in the square was our next stop and by now it had started raining. Next up was the Duomo. We took pictures but since we knew our time was getting short we choose to shop instead of entering and save that for another visit to Florence when we had more time. I was able to find a couple of bags and a few souvenirs since this was our last stop in Italy and we ended with very little shopping time on our last two stops. The day just flies by when cruising and it is hard to fit in all you want to do! Tim was able to find a leather jacket for a price he was willing to give so he is happy today—the proud owner of and Italian leather jacket. By now the rain was coming down in buckets. Our driver took us a few more blocks away for our last stop of the day at Piazza della Signoria where we find another David replica. We then go to another outdoor shopping area for those last few purchases of the day at Mercato Nuovo. After raining solid for the last 2-3 hours, just as we head out of Florence it stops and the sun comes out as could be expected. We have another beautiful sunset for sailing out of Livorno. We really enjoyed our short visit to Florence and our travel companions for the day. It is a city we would like to spend some time in the future exploring more in depth.
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It was great to read all about Florence as it is a city I haven't been to and always wanted to go. Now I have even more inccentive to make sure I get there one day. Make sure to take a picture of Tim and his jacket so we can all admire the jacket (definitely not Tim).
ReplyDeleteLove to all.