Only so many words

So many words you can write about Florence... truly one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
We all spent two days together here after which I flew off to Chicago for a couple of days while the rest have the joy of another three days in Florence.
From Il Duomo with the cathedral, basilica and bell tower, to the piazzas resplendent with statues and fountains … and the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Every artists interpretation of David, so many and varied. There really is too much to put into a single blog entry.


On Monday evening we met an NZ family staying in the youth hostel. It was nice to do some socializing for a change, had a few drinks and the kids watched a DVD (turning out to be a good pull). Lovely family from Nelson.


A couple of the highlights for me were going up to the top of the dome of the cathedral. The trip takes you to the inside in the dome where can walk around the cat walk and gaze upon the frescoed ceiling above and the mosaic tiled floor below. After this the stairs take you to the layer between the outer and inner doom, an extraordinary journey, allowing you to understand how amazing an engineering feat this is. Finally you end up on an outside platform at the very top of the dome from which you can look down over the city of Florence…


The Piazza della Signoria where had stood the original David, now a copy in it’s place, the fountain of Neptune and the Loggia de Lanzia balcony gallery of masterpiece statues, including a beautiful bronze by Cellini of Persius killing the Medusa.


There really is just too much to say, so I will leave it at that from Chicago.