Florence Day 3!

Today, we decided to take a leisurely stroll to the Piazza della Republicca, after having our banana and nutella sanwiches and melon for breakfast. The days here are very, very long and it's been in the mid to high 90's and it will be for the whole month. The Piazza della Republicca was the original site for the Roman Forum. It is huge. Now, it's surrounded by caffes, vendors, entertainers and even a carousel. On our little excursion, we stumbled upon the church of Orsanmichele, (Saint Michael). Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed in the church, so we can't really show you what it's like. However, they did sell postcards inside, sounds sacreligious to me. It was beautiful, a combination of medieval and gothic. It is almost unoticed, it is flanked by the Nautica and Diesel stores.

We made our way down to the Mercato Nuovo, originally a silk market, but now, full of anything you can imagine, but mainly fine leather goods. (by the way, for those of you who don't know it, Florence is famous for leather and gold) We walked around a bit and found ourselves in Piazza della Signoria, which is surrounded by breathtaking statues. Neptune, a David replica among others all grace this square. We took the opportunity to reserve our tickets for the Uffizi Gallery and saved ourselves the phone or internet fee by doing so in person. After, we walked around and stumbled upon street art. A very accurate rendition of Botticelli's, Birth of Venus, was nearly completed on one of Florence's traditional brickstone streets.

After venturing a bit further, we found ourselves in from of Santa Maria del Fiore, or Brunelleschi's Duomo. It is enormous to say the least. However, since we had walked so much, and we still have many weeks, we took a few photographs and went off to find a place to eat. After eating, we window shopped, and stole air conditioning. Soon, we walked back to our apartment.

We've found that coming back to the apartment during the hottest time of day and then going back out in the evening is very convenient. So, after resting for about and hour and a half, we were brave or dumb enough to walk to Piazzale Michelangelo. Pretty much the highest point in Florence, across the Arno River and all the way across town. The distance wasn't a problem, but climbing the stairs to the piazzale almost did us in. Cindy was tomato red and speechless after the first few steps. We waited until we caught our breath and made it all the way to the top. The view was definitely worth the excerise. Once at the top, we admired another David replica and were in the company of vendors and couple hundred spectators too. Next time we want to experience the view, we'll just take the bus that takes you right to the top. After having peaches as we sat on the steps of the piazzale and took a few photographs, we walked back to the apartment.

On our way home, we stopped at the Piazza della Republicca and had two cold coffees, very strong to say the least, and a cream puff smothered in chocolate mousse dessert. It was very tasty. We passed our little street and had to backtrack, as if we hadn't walked enough, but on our way, we found a movie theatre that we will be going to very soon.