We took a walking tour of Florence...seeing many famous sites: the Duomo which included the Baptistry and Florence Cathedral, built during the Renaissance. The Baptistry includes gilded doors designed by big time artists...including the
Gates of paradise by Gilberti.
The Florence Cathedral is the 4th largest in the world. It can fit 30,000 people and is also used for civic events! The Dome is the largest ever built.
We learned a lot about Dante this morning, as well. When Dante wrote "The Divine Comedy", it was the first time an important book had been written in the spoken language of Florence. So, he is considered the father of the Italian language.
Next, we walked to the Ponto Veccio,built in 1345. It is the oldest bridge in Florence and the only one spared in WW2.
We then walked over to the Piazza della signoria to see Michaelangelo's statue of David. That was very exciting!
Just before lunch, we went to Leonardo's Leather and Gold and learned a little about genuine leather! We bought a few things and moved on to lunch.
Then we took another bus ride to San Gimignano, a very quaint town about 40 minutes from Florence, or Firenze (as the Italian's call it), which is over 800 years old. It has been really interesting to see these older cities which still have parts of the old walls surrounding the city and the city gate!
We walked up and down the small cobblestone roads as we shopped, ate Gelato, and enjoyed the buildings. Some of our group visited a very interesting museum...I'll let them tell you about it!
After a few hours, we loaded back up and drove back into Florence for dinner. Dinner was great! By the time we got back to our bus and were on our way back, we had taken 21,000 steps today! It was a fun but exhausting day. I expect everyone will sleep well tonight!
Tomorrow we are off to Rome!
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