Florence, Italy

Florence is the next stop in our travels...We hopped on a bus to get into town and on the way there were several fields on sunflowers we drove by. They were gorgeous! I tried to capture one of them in this picture:

Florence is such a beautiful city. It was crazy packed with tourists the day we were there, which was unfortunate, but I could tell that it would be a very fun place to stroll through when there were less tourists. It was very charming, for sure. This next photo is my favorite from the day...I like how the reflections in the water look like a painting...

We did a walking tour of Florence...The first place we went to of note was the famous Piazza della Signoria. In the piazza you can find a large Neptune fountain...I took the following picture of it...

Below you can see my mom and I in front of a replica of the famous David statue by Michelangelo. We did see the real one later that day. David is one of those pieces that is mentioned in every art history class, it seems, so I feel like I remember quite a bit about this guy. It was neat to see him in person...I can't get over how incredibly talented Michelangelo was.

There were several statues in this square that were originals, some of them were Roman statues. I couldn't believe they were just out in plain air for weather and such to have their way with them! One of the statues was one I had studied in art history...I was so surprised it was not protected in a museum somewhere. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get a good picture of these statues since there were so many people and our tour guide moved us along pretty quickly.

Oh--and in this next picture you may note that I have a swanky leather purse on my arm. Apparently Italian leather is kind of a big deal...I have been in the market for a new purse for awhile since my last one was purchased in 2007 and the fake leather is peeling off of it. This one and I became rather attached to one another quickly, and it was priced very reasonably, so I snagged it. I use it everyday--zero buyer's remorse here!

Next we have the Ponte Vecchio, a very old, very cute bridge with shops on it...

Here we have the famous "Gates of Paradise" baptistry doors to the Battistero di San Giovanni, created by Lorenzo Ghiberti. I had just studied these in art history, so it was neat to see them in person. My favorite aspect of these doors is how Ghiberti was able to depict depth in some of the panels by making the figures closest to the viewer in bas relief and the images that are meant to be far away are faintly carved into the panel.

Ah, gelato...

Oh, hello there Duomo!

So, we were walking along a street in Florence and I looked up at a building and said, "That building looks like the Medici palace," and then our tour guide proceeded to point to the same building and announce that it was, indeed, the Medici palace. I was extremely proud of myself. I like how the building facade becomes more and more refined the higher up you look.

Well, that was Florence. It was a very tiring day, but it was very exciting to see so many historical places. Florence has such a rich history.

The Europe trip aside, Kyncade and I are currently packing up the house and preparing to move to Fresno...Kind of crazy. Hopefully I will be able to finish blogging about Europe and be able to tell you about what we are really doing in our lives sometime :)

Next up: Pisa, Italy