Florence Again

Dear Charlie and Polly,

We had another wonderful day in Florence Wednesday. The sun was shining and it was a warm, beautiful day. We had a lazy morning at the villa, and took a taxi into Florence about lunchtime. We found a restaurant on the Arno river and were seated at a table overlooking the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge). It was originally built almost 700 years ago. There are shops all along the inside of the bridge that sell gold and jewelry.

This "not very good" picture shows our table overlooking the river and the Ponte Vecchio.

In the background you can see the river and the very famous Ufizzi Art Gallery, one of the oldest and most famous art galleries in the world.

Doc enjoyed watching the rowers in the racing shells going down the Arno River.

After lunch we walked up to the Michaelangelo Plaza to see a view of the city. We climbed many, MANY, steps to get there, but the views were beautiful from the park. This is a view of the city rooftops. Can you find the Duomo in this picture?

This is a panoramic picture of Florence. Do you see the Ponte Vecchio where we ate lunch?

This is a bronze copy of the famous statue of David that was sculpted out of white marble by Michaelangelo over 500 years ago.

After we left the Michaelangelo Plaza, we went to the Galileo Museum. There were many early mechanical inventions here, including this collection of sun dials. People in the 1500s would use these to tell the time instead of watches or smartphones. I wonder what they did on cloudy days???

This is a sculpture of Galileo. He was an inventor and mathematician. Once he did an experiment from the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Galileo also invented the telescope. These are two of his very own telescopes.

Many other early inventions are in this museum. Charlie, you and your Daddy would love this place! Does this look like anything you have seen before?

Next, we went to the Ufizzi Art Gallery where we saw many beautiful paintings by artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Donatello, and Botticelli. Sounds kind of like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, doesn't it? This is the clock tower of the old palace outside the museum.

And this is a view of - guess what? - the Duomo, from the top of the museum. Florence is such a beautiful and historic city. I feel so fortunate to have been able to spend a week here!

We miss and love you both!

Sweetie and Doc

 

 

 

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