Firenze (Florence)

On our fourth day, we decided to drive to Florence, which is the biggest and most well known city in Tuscany. The drive took about 45 minutes. This city has so much history in it, evident by all the beautiful architecture and art that we saw. We started off by crossing the Ponte Veccio bridge over the Arno River into the heart of the city. On the bridge, there were a ton of jewelry stores, which were really expensive!

Our first stop was the Piazza del Duomo. The cathedral was beautiful with a huge Heaven and Hell fresco on the ceiling of the Duomo. We took the climb up the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo, and walked around the top of the inside of the dome to see the fresco up close. About halfway up the steps, it got a lot narrower and steeper. The hallways we were climbing through were getting smaller and smaller, the higher we went up. Finally we made it to the top! At the top you could go outside and walk around the top of the dome. From up there, we could see all of Florence! Cara got scared of the height and wouldn't get too close to the edge. After walking around the outside, we began our journey back down, but first we went back inside to the top level of walking space around the inside of the dome. From here, you could reach up and actually touch the fresco. Although our legs were sore after climbing back down, it was well worth it to see the view of the city from high above and see the fresco inside up close.

After this, we were a little worn out and decided to find somewhere to eat. We found a little restaurant and shared a sausage and onion pizza. All of the food we’ve had in Italy has been delicious. we're glad we walked up 463 steps, because we are sure going to need the exercise to work off all of the food we’ve been eating. After lunch, we met back up with Cara's parents and went to the Galleria dell ‘Accademia, most known for Michaelangelo's David. We then entered a hall where you can see some of the "rough drafts" Michelangelo did of the David, and then, there it was. He was 17 feet tall and all marble. The detail of the statue was amazing. You weren’t allowed to take pictures, but Jamie is sneaky and managed to take a couple. After the Galleria dell ‘Accademia, we walked around Florence and looked at the many markets. At one point we ran into our friend Delany randomly walking on the street. We then met back up with Cara's aunt and uncle for some drinks and appetizers at a restaurant overlooking the Arno River. After leaving Florence, we stopped at a little bar in our town, Castellina, called Bar Italia, for a few bottles of wine, then called it a night.