October 9, 2011
This morning we are off on a tour that I arranged thru Connect2Italy that will take us in to Florence where we will first visit the Uffizi Museum. The museum is said to house the world’s greatest collection of Renaissance art. Delia was very excited to be able to see the original “Birth of Venus” and “Spring” by Botticelli. I was so glad we were able to do this…it really didn’t mean that much to me but just to see the smile on Delia’s face was worth it. Could not take any pictures in the museum.
Outside of the Old Palace, we saw a copy of David by Michelangelo (the original is in the Academia Museum).
We then rode up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to view a panoramic view of Florence. While we were there we saw a wedding party. The little kids in the wedding were real cute. 
The view from the plaza was really beautiful.
The driver then took us back down in to town where we looked around the area of the Cathedral (the Duomo). It took 14 years to build. The dome was built by Brunelleschi using a revolutionary method that was later copied for St. Peter’s in Rome. The facade is decorated with multicolored marble in geometric shapes. In front of the Duomo is the Bapistry with doors depicting scenes from the bible sculpted on a series of bronze panels. The doors were named by Michelangelo the “Gates of Paradise”.
After that, we went on a search for the place we bought my gold chain many years ago….it really was a search and took us quite a while to find it. The only reason we found it was because Delia could keep asking for directions. Unfortunately, my search was in vain. I could not match my necklace link so I did not get my bracelet. What I did find out was that the necklace we paid $300 for would now cost over $1600 !!!!
We made a short stop in the village of Lucca where we stopped in the square where the cathedral of San Martino is located.
Then it’s was on to our last stop of the day… Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower. Most of us have retained our sanity and do not plan to climb it…I’m not sure about Delia….we’ll see!! Well, Delia tried but she couldn’t get a reservation to climb the tower until late in the day…..
Again, another good day…our driver could have been better but all in all, we had a good group and saw a lot……
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