Florence - Day 1

Good news. I got on the internet after dinner (steak florentine - a specialty of Florence, obviously). So let me detail the day. We got up VERY early to catch the shuttle boat in Venice to the bus that took us to Florence. We passed Padua (where Di's grandfather was from) and Bologna before getting to Lucca, a side trip we all agreed to. It was a couple hours on twisty mountain freeways through many, many tunnels. Lots of trucks on the road. But the driver got us there after one rest stop half way.

Lucca is a typical medieval town with narrow streets, a wall encircling the city, and a Roman amphitheater that has been built over. The pictures will explain. I liked Lucca and had a good lunch.

Then we went to Florence and found that our hotel (Cerretani) is within sight of the famous Duomo, one of the largest cathedrals in the world. The tour is tomorrow morning and we should be seeing the real statue of David.

Here are the pictures:

 

The Dolomites in Padua. On a clear day you can see the beginning of the Italian Alps in the background.

 

 

Padua countryside.

 

 

Mountains around Balogna. Taken from a moving bus, same as the pics above.

 

 

The Apennines approaching Lucca and Florence. I compared them to the Smokies or Alleghenies in the US, but they are probably higher.

 

 

Part of the wall around Lucca.

 

 

A typical street in Lucca. In fact, this is a typical street in Italy. Those of you with sharp eyes will pick out Diane.

 

 

St. Michael's church in Lucca. Like most churches we see, it had very ornate artwork on the outside.

 

 

That's me on the right having lunch at the Roman amphitheater in Lucca.

 

 

If you look close, the buildings are forming a circle. They were built on top of the remains of the amphitheater. In the middle of what is the square now, gladiators used to fight.

 

 

Out of order photo. This is artwork on the corner of the St. Michael's church in Lucca.

 

 

This is a statue of an historical figure from Lucca. I have no details. It stands outside the church.

 

 

The home of the composer Puccini.

 

 

A few steps from our hotel. The duomo of Florence in the center. The babtistery on the right.

 

 

The east door of the baptistery was called the Gates of Paradise by Michelangelo. When the light is better tomorrow I'll get a closeup of the panels.

 

 

Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

 

 

Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

 

More tomorrow!