Florence Italy, Part One.

After we checked into the hotel we had some time to wander around.   A very short walk from the hotel was the Arne River.

Ponte Vecchio bridge over the Arne River

Right next door to our hotel was - Bascilica di Santa Trinita.  

A very nice church - one of many we'd visit

Like nearly all churches in Italy, this one has frescos.

Ancient frescos

Stained glass

Just outside the hotel was Santa Trinita Piazza.  The column in the piazza is from 1560 gifted to Florence from the Pope Pius IV.  It somehow celebrates justice with the rise of Cosimo Medici to the position of Grand Duke of Tuscany.  Spoiler alert.  The Pope was a Medici himself.

Some old Florence street scenes

Motorcycles and scooters everywhere.

There are some strange things about the building below.  Second story.  Two window and an arch.  Why not third window?  Arch over door doesn't fit against trim under 2nd floor windows.  Ground floor window and room lap over into next building!

I think they might literally have everything here.

Narrow streets and narrower sidewalks.  This scene is misleading.  Florence was jam-packed with tourists.

Saturday morning we took a walking tour.  It was largely about the Medici family history that helped give rise to Renaissance in Florence.  Briefly, the Medicis farmed sheep. Got rich. Started banking. Got very rich.  Tried to fit into democratic city-state Florence.  Eventually just plain took over.

Front to back.  Baptistry, Duomo, Bell Tower.

Tell us, Gabriella!

Duomo is more "by Florence, for Florence, of Florence" than it is about God.  Lots and lots of secular "heroes of Florence" on the facade. 

Leslie and Eric showed up on plan and on budget.  We met them and went to Duomo, Bell Tower and Museum.  The inside of the Duomo is nice, but certainly not the most impressive we'd see.  The distinctive is the dome.  

It was designed by Fillipo Brunnelleschi to be self-supporting as it was erected.  At the time, the largest dome ever built. The weight of cupola on the top helps hold it together.  The original ball on the cupola was worked on by Leonardo DaVinci as a teenage apprentice.  Full disclosure:  The original was struck by lightening in 1608 and fell off.  The current one is the second.

Under the floor are the remains of the two previous buildings built on this site.  One was from the Roman era.  The other was a church razed to built the current one.

old and new church

Mosiacs

After the Duomo, it was time to climb the bell tower!   Well, for Eric and me, anyway...

Great views from the tower

Looking south.  City Hall tower at left.

Well, SOME of us climbed the tower.  Others had Limoncello Spritzes

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Eye-level view of the dome.

The museum was next.  The artifacts in there were generally the originals and patterns for the statuary on the Duomo facade.  They replace the originals with replicas in order to help preserve the originals.

From the roof of the museum

Sunday, we managed some more sightseeing before gathering for our tour at 1 PM.  Leslie, Eric and Patti found some more churches to visit.  I found a really nice model railroad call HZERO!  

An overview

Stunningly well done train shed

Container port

Accurate model of US military cemetery just outside Florence

This model railroad was features some superb modelling on a par with Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg Germany, although much, much smaller.  The whole layout is about the size of a single room at Miniature Wonderland.  The operations were very well automated - lots of trains on the move at all times.  

But, now, it's 1:00 PM, and time for the Classic Journeys group to muster at the hotel.