RogerDodger and FancyNancy Circle the Globe: Florence

11/09 Florence

There are so many ways to label this day a success...first, I didn’t lose the car, and Wells Fargo didn’t handcuff our mullah, also the expected rain turned into a nice 70 degree day, the drive to Florence was ease, ease, easy! Talk about looking like you know what your doing, here to there was perfect...I mean we drove right to where we wanted to be, parked and walk right to Piazza San Giovanni, Piazza del Duomo and the The Cathedral of Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore.

This huge complex includes the Cathedral, Cupola, Cripta, Tower, Baptistery, and Museum...a whole day of exploring in one giant complex. We walked to the top of the Dome (435 steps) and the Tower (414 steps)...both have incredible views of the city and all the other monuments, you could spend your whole day up in the clouds! The pictures we got are terrific and the memories lifelong.

The art work is priceless...the dome of the cathedral took 2 painters almost 10 years to complete, the mosaic in the Baptistery is simply perfection and the marble floors in the Cathedral are gorgeous. All in all you spend the day wandering around saying, “WOW”. Oh yea, forgot the Stained Glass, another Wow.

With all that beauty at my fingertips, I still enjoyed standing on top of the Dome and Tower the most. The views were truly spectacular, Florence is a very pretty city. I was not disappointed. We have now spent a couple days in Tuscany and I liked both Siena and Florence. The drive to both cities was nice, but for my money Umbria is prettier...the hills have more roll to them and the countryside just seems alive. Then when you hit Spoleto or Terni, and get up in the Mountains, the views are a lot like the Rockies...anyway, if anyone’s counting, I vote Umbria best overall (for what I’ve seen). Funny because before this trip all we heard was Tuscany, Tuscany, Tuscany...now, all I’m hearing about is the Amalfi Coast (which we are checking out in a couple weeks), and the Northern part of Italy...recently I’ve had a number of people say, “if you think Umbria is pretty, you should see the northern part of the country”, and this wasn’t just my buddy Lucia (who’s from the north). All I can think to do is schedule a return engagement, start at Venice and head north! Such a small country with so much to see and do...I suppose to really see Italy would take years...nice thought!