March 18-20, 2011
Florence is a masterpiece and is everything you ever learned about art and sculpture! I even bought a book on Michelangelo just to learn about the Renaissance artists and how their learning and interaction resulted in this era of rebirth and why it flourished in Florence.
The museums in Florence are incomparable and house the greatest concentration of masterpieces of art in the world. We visited the two major museums one of which is the Uffizi Gallery; a masterpiece in itself and home to works by Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Titan to name just a few. The other museum that draws crowds is the Accademia where we saw Michelangelo’s stunning masterpiece David.
The churches in Florence are museums in themselves not only architecturally but in their frescos and collections of art and statuary. The crowning masterpiece of all is the Duomo, the Gothic cathedral topped by Brunelleschi’s miraculous dome!
Florence is a city so filled with great art and architecture that it requires a return visit as we were only able to take in the most notable sites including the Palazzo Vecchio, the Ponte Vecchio, the Pitti Palace (Palace of the Medici Family), and the Duomo. Oh, and did I mention the gelato…clearly, you cannot see all these great sites without several breaks at the many gelaterias!!! The pasta is great here as well…Florence is “capitol” of Tuscany! A travel tip…bring two sizes of clothes…..
Hope you enjoy the photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/116669901425376505238/Florence1820March2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKHu1sDOi9X9sgE&feat=directlink
No doubt at all, Florence is lovely and we enjoyed our stay, but nothing compares (for me) to Venice. We were in Florence during some sort of soccer tournament and it was c-r-a-z-y! We were not in Venice for Carnevale, and I think I'm glad -- in your wonderful pictures, it looks w-a-y too crowded for my taste...which is what I most loved about Venice--NO CARS/honking/tire squeals, etc. Thanks for the blog update, cousin...I love 'em and am itching to travel!!
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