Florence - Take Two

You simply can't see Florence in one day, so we headed back to this intriguing city for one more look. We crossed the Pont Vecchio bridge, lined with jewelry shops and gold smiths. These shops are just one impact that the Medeci family had on this town that still can be seen. The Medicis didn't like the smell of the meat shops on the bridge when they crossed from their neighborhood, so they changed the code to only allow jewelers! This bridge was also spared during WWII due to it's beauty.

We headed straight to the Uffizi Gallery so that the kids would be fresh and hopefully excited to see Lippi's "Madonna and Child", Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" and Michelangelo's "Holy Family". We signed up for a tour by a woman who analyzed a few of the highlights in the museum. By the end of the tour, most of our group was ready to move on, but I could have stayed for several more hours in this treasure trove.

We hurried over to see San Marco's Church and The Medici Chapel, to find that they both were closed. I definitely have reason to come back to this area now. We wandered thorough a market and watched the artists, and then found the same great gelato shop that we had enjoyed a few days before. I love how the Italians present their ice cream!

Our next stop was the Santa Croce church, where Renaissance men such as Michelangelo, Ghiberti and Galileo were buried.

We ate pizza at a little street cafe, wandered the piazzas, admiring Florence's street artists, and then took one more spin on the carousal in the Piazza Repubblica.

We ended the day climbing to the top of Piazzale Michelangio where an incredible view of Florence with the sun setting over the Duomo and beautiful bridges awaited.