04.30.10

Upon arriving to Florence, we headed out for a two-hour Renaissance Walk that took us through the heart of the city, past all the major sights, and onto the Ponte Vecchio.  I have to admit, though, the river reminded me a bit of the Ohio River in Cincy -- big, brown, and rather still.  

We are currently obsessed with these Rick Steves audio tours and, fortunately, are not too proud to walk around with two pairs of headphones hooked into one iPhone.  It took us a bit to figure out the “connected at the hip” walk but now we are flawless.  All that walking in tandem, however, made us hungry so we grabbed a caprese salad on the river before spending a few hours with these guys:

This is my second time to the Uffizi Gallery and it was just as impressive this time around.   With our faithful audio guide we were able to learn exactly how religious art transformed during the Renaissance and, while the Botticellis were definitely the star of the show, we appreciated the entire collection.  From the gallery, we spied some lawn chairs set out on a perfectly green plot of grass on the bank of the river.  It took some time to figure out how exactly to get down there but we finally snuck ourselves into the Florence Rowing Society and staked out two chairs for some napping in the sunshine.   

After our rest, we were rejuvenated enough to climb all 400+ steps to the top of the Duomo.  It was a beautiful view and a neat opportunity to look down into the church from the inside of the dome.  

That evening just so happened to be La Notte Bianca in Florence so, after our delicious dinner, we ran into the biggest street party I have ever been a part of.  People were dancing and strolling and enjoying outside art displays.