Venice-Florence-Rome, Day 11

We started our day off on the Autostrada, in our little Alpha Romeo, headed towards Florence.

After a couple of hours on the road, we reached Florence; and the fun began! Driving around the tiny town, trying to reach the parking lot on our little map…fun! After driving around, and finally stopping for directions (a very nice lady drew us a map), we reached the parking lot!

So, we headed down the street to the Duomo, which was built starting in 1296, with the orders to build “the loftiest, most sumptuous edifice human invention could devise”. It wasn’t completed until 1436. Amazingly, the outside of this cathedral is more impressive than the inside; very intricate.

Inside the Duomo was nice, but a bit plain—especially when compared to the outside—or maybe it’s just because we’ve seen a lot of churches over the past week and a half!!! After saying a quick prayer of thanks for keeping us safe through all of our travels—and our wild day in Paris!—we went outside the Duomo to gaze at the baptistery of the church. The baptistery has one door which has ten golden panels, which each depict three scenes from the Bible; and almost seem to reach out to you—simply stunning.

Then, we headed down to the Piazza della Signoria, where the “bonfire of the vanities” took place in 1497. The friar Savonarola convinced his followers to burn their worldly goods (priceless books and works of art); and where a year later he was hanged—and ironically burned—as a heretic. This square also is home to several famous statues, including Michelangelo’s “David” and “The Raping of the Sabine Women” (I know, I know—but it’s very famous!).

We strolled down to the river, and around the city; taking our time (as the city center is very small) and eating gelato! Then, we headed back to our car; and the run that waited getting back out of the city. (Two words of advice here: 1) unless you really need to, don’t drive, take the train; and 2) don’t plan on spending a lot of time in Florence as there isn’t too much to see.)

After finding the Autostrada, we headed south for Roma!