Day 5 – In Florence

We had breakfast in our apartment before joining up with our walking tour this morning. We visited some amazing sites – as you could only expect in Florence – made much better by the explanation of the architecture and history before we started and on the way. Without boring everyone to tears, the following key sites impressed us the most on our tour today…

At the start of the tour, we were introduced to the Chiesa di Orsanmichele. This church was originally a grain market that had a sacred image which was said to provide miracles. It was turned into a church and the grain store was moved to the upper levels. A feature of the church is that during the 15^th and 16^th centuries, each guild was ordered to decorate the outside of the church. What transpired was an early form of advertising whereby all the local guilds commissioned statues that adorned the exterior of the church to advertise their guild. The statues are very ornate and picturesque – and they all tell a story (which we now know how to interpret!).

At the end of the tour, we visited the “Duomo” (Santa Maria del Fiore) which is a gothic cathedral erected over an ancient basilica. The size of the place is mind blowing considering construction began in 1296. It was finally finished – including the addition of the dome in 1436. Karla and Neil took the journey up 463 steps to the lookout point on the top of the dome. There we discovered the most awesome views all over Florence – it was definitely worth the walk!!! There we are in the photo with Florence in the background.

Other points of interest on the tour were the Palazzo (Palace) Strozzi from the 15-16 century, a church – Chiesa de Santa Triniti from about 1300 with amazing frescoes and chapels, the famous bridge Ponte Vecchio, and the Piazza della Republica

We had a nice lunch at a local place recommended by our tour guide and set off to explore more of Florence. We found the markets and had a leisurely stroll through those – purchasing a few bits and pieces. We sorted our onwards journey to Trieste in a couple of days and got some supplies for tea. Neil cooked (compiled) dinner then we chose to have a quiet night – as we have lots of plans for tomorrow!!!