Florence

We had to say arrividerci to Montepulciano the next morning. Some of us stopped at an elegant coffee house on the way down to see the amazing view from its terrace.

From the bottom of the hill we took a bus to Chiusi, then train to Florence.

Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance, the rebirth of culture in the 15th and 16th centuries. It’s home to world renowned art and architecture. And leather markets! Those markets were one of the things I remembered most from my last time here many years ago, and our hotel is nearby for convenient shopping. But, those markets seem really cheap compared to the quality leather we saw in Montepulciano. (There is quality leather here, but in the storefronts not the markets.)

We went on a walking tour of the amazing sights in the city center. We turned a corner to suddenly see the Duomo (cathedral) in all its glory. The cathedral and its dome are considered architectural masterpieces. The dome is the third largest in the world, behind St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Pauls’s in London.

Nearby was the Medici cathedral. The Medici family was bankers to the pope, and that apparently made them seriously rich. Interesting…. The last heir to the Medici fortune died in the 1500’s, and gave everything to the city of Florence, never allowed to leave the city. The famed Uffizi gallery and its contents of invaluable artworks was part of this legacy.

We crossed the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge), one of the twelve bridges across the Arno River. This bridge has apartments built into it, and is lined with jewellery shops.

From there we caught a city bus to Plaza Michaelangelo for a stunning view of the city at sunset.