Firenze

eA two-hour train ride from Assisi gets us to Florence by early afternoon.  After checking in AirBnb we decide to do a walk.  Our first stop is this piazza where there's an installation of birds and babies and half-bird/babies.

There is also this unique urn with a serpent slithering in and out of it:

Then we come to the piazza with the duomo.  Just when you think you've seen the biggest, most beautiful cathedral that could possibly exist, another comes along that is even more jaw-dropping ... this is it.

The scale of the pillars and arches is hard to fathom:

The figures in the dome are so realistic it seems they could leap into your arms:

Another nearby landmark:

We come to another piazza with a collection of outdoor statues:

This is a false David, but lovely none the less.

We can't quite figure out this statue.  Perhaps a political statement???

Leonardo da Vinci:

Approaching the Ponto Vecchio.  We admire the apartments built onto the bridge and hanging over the water:

Two sweet little wooden boats moored under the bridge:

Ponto Vecchio is famous for the jewellery stores along its length:

This wooden panel folds up to cover the glass front of a jewellery store:

We end the day with Chinese food in our neighbourhood.  It's absolutely delicious.

We head out the next morning for an Info Centre because online tickets for the Uffizi Gallery are sold out, hoping they will have some magic for us.  We are instructed to head to a ticket office and sure enough, we get tickets for the next day.

The next stop is the Leonardo da Vinci Museum.  We have fun playing with some of his inventions... Many of which laid the foundation for things we still use today:

An exercise machine with weights for both arm and leg exercises:

Intradepartmental communication.  With the other person a room away, the voice came through very clearly:

This clock is for sale.  A twirling chain wraps around a lever, then unwraps, and a cog clicks and perfect time is kept:

Mona Linda:

The first bicycle:

A sophisticated BBQ with a spit:

Leonardo was a genius in so many fields of art and science and a true Renaissance man.

A great lunch in one of the many piazzas:

We need a walk, so over the Arno River, we go.  First to Piazza S. Spirito:

Then we make the climb up to Piazzale Michelangelo for beautiful panoramic views of Firenze:

Even with 10 am tickets to the Uffizi, we line up at 9:15 and get in at 10.  We paid extra as there is a special show on Leonardo da Vinci.  His work 'The Adoration of the Magi' has just been returned to the museum.  It has taken experts 6 years to clean and restore it.

The long hall ceilings of the museum seem like masterpieces in their own right.  We cannot detect a repeating pattern; each panel original.

Some photos from the museum:

Aristotle:

Head of Satyr:

Our Lady of Sorrows:

The birth of Venus:

Medusa:

Adam & Eve:

The expulsion of Adam & Eve:

Paul, a friend of 4-legged creatures does a little study of focusing the camera on cats and dogs in the paintings:

The rest of the day is relaxing.  We wander along the river path and lose the crowds, eventually finding some tables and chairs on the grass, under the shade of a tree (its 26 degrees on this last day of September) and have a beer.  Along the way, we enjoy some street art.

The public library:

Looking back up to Piazza Michelangelo where we were yesterday:

On a street, a flat deck truck is escorted by police.  As it passes we see that it's stacked with Chianti and followed by a tractor.  Hmm...is there a wine festival setting up somewhere?

Back towards the town, we discover another piazza...and run into Mark & Carol.  There's a market here that seems full of local people stopping on their way home from work.

The scents of the spice and food vendors are irresistible.  We explore the booths.

This grill makes little pancakes that can be filled with a variety of ingredients ... usually Nutella.

A good variety of cheeses here.  As usual its the pungent small of pecorino that alerts to the fact that cheese is nearby.

Afterwards, we try to find a nearby garden that's on our tourist map only to eventually learn that its private!

On the way back to the market to get dinner, we wander into another church, plain on the outside but filled with art and decoration on the inside:

After a delicious market dinner we take one last stroll past the beautiful big duomo and the big square beyond ... then home to get ready for the morning train ride to Venice.