Florence (Firenze), Italy

We left Venice and headed to Bologna where we had lunch (pasta Ragu Bolognese of course!).  Then we drove to Florence.  It was a little bit challenging to get to our hotel, even with help from Jane, our very British GPS voice.  (there were some streets closed, and some very narrow streets!)  Once we had checked in, we headed off to the Accademia and saw Michelangelo's statue "David."  Truly a masterpiece!

Then we walked around and found a restaurant for dinner called Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco.  Cinghiale means "wild boar" which is what I ate!  

The next day we toured the Science Museum where they had an exhibit about Galileo and the development of the telescope.  (He perfected it and was the first person to see Jupiter's moons.)  They also had one of his fingers (preserved) on display - yuck!  We wanted to see Dante's house - but it was closed that day.  Below is a photo showing the outside.  

We went to the Duomo museum where many artworks that had previously been in the Duomo (church) are now on exhibit.  Then we toured the Baptistry next to the church.  Below is a painting of Dante.  
This is the ceiling of the Baptistry - very ornately decorated with Biblical and other religious figures - in mosaic.  
As the sun was going down, we walked to scout out our next dinner spot.  Here is a view of the Arno River.  We walked out to the bridge you see here . . . 
and from that bridge I zoomed in on this tower to get the lion or gryphon on top.  
Looking back toward the west and the Ponte Vecchio - a famous bridge with shops on it!
After dinner we walked back through another Piazza and found a statue of Dante.  
Looking across the Piazza toward the tower with the lion, now lit up.  Andrea was amused by my picture-taking.  
Well, High School Musical "Spettacolo" was the night before - we missed it!  
Andrea and Pascuale - we saw several of these little electric cars in the city!
Just after we saw Pascuale we happened upon an organ concert in a church - the music poured out into the street.  This was just before 10 pm so we stopped for the last few minutes of the concert.  Really neat!

One might ask why this sign in downtown Florence is in English - for the tourists, I guess!
Dan and Andrea heading toward our Pensione in the Piazza della Repubblica.  
In Italy, flat screen TVs haven't caught on yet.  This is in our hotel room.  Kind of reminds me of hospital TVs.  
The next morning we waited in line for about an hour and toured the Uffizi.  Many wonderful works of art!  Lots of Annunciations, Coronations, and Madonna & Child paintings.  Some famous ones were Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Michelangelo's Holy Family.  After the tour we stepped out onto the deck and looked at the castle next door.  
Right outside our Pensione, a vintage Vespa!  

We left late morning for Assisi, on the way to Sorrento.