Florence

I started off pretty early this morning catching a bus and then two trains to 
get here. I arrived around 1:00 and got checked into my hotel. It's in a nice 
location not far from the train station and just a little north of the Duomo, 
which is pretty much at the center of Florence. 
 
As you may know, the city of Florence is the home of the Renaissance and the 
birthplace of our modern world. On this first day, I just took the opportunity 
to roam the city and check out all the sites that I'll be visiting over the next 
few days. It is a very pedestrian friendly city and really easy to get around. 
Everything is within about a 10 to 20 minute walk of the Duomo. Speaking of the 
Duomo, that's the classic iconic figure of Florence of the red tiled dome. It's 
actually the dome over a church named Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. The 
dome was designed by a local architect named Filippo Brunelleschi. Later 
Michelangelo would use this dome as inspiration for the one he did at St. 
Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in Rome and was subsequently imitated in our US 
Capitol Building and others. I took a "behind the scenes" tour where a guide 
took us through the church first, then up along the terraces along the inside of 
the dome, then outside along the dome and then finally up to the cupola on top. 
Whew... it was a lot of steps but the views were spectacular and I've included a 
few. Note that all the houses and buildings must all have the same exact red 
tile roof. 
 
I then walked down the main drag, which is so nice with no cars, to the Palazzo 
Vecchio, it's the picture with the castle type turret and rustic stonework. This 
building was Florence's original City Hall. I then continued walking down to the 
Arno River where several bridges connect old town Florence with a section called 
Oltrarno. The most famous of those bridges is the Ponte Vecchio where lots of 
gold and silver shops line the pedestrian only bridge. I included a picture of 
the Ponte Vecchio as well as a shot looking up the Arno river and there happened 
to be a crew team practicing along the river. 
 
Well tomorrow I'll get my culture on and be going into all these museums. I'm 
looking forward to learning a lot about the Renaissance. TGIF to everyone!!