Florence and Siena

4-7 May 2012
Chris had one last trip to Brescia so I took the train to Milan.  He picked me up and drove us to Florence, Italy for the weekend. (I am really going to miss saying things like that!)

Standing on Ponte Vecchio with Ponte a Santa Trinita in the background.


Chris arranged a lovely guide to show us around the city.  When you don't know much (or want a new perspective on a well traveled place) a private guide is the only way to go. 


Chris in front of the Palazzo Vecchio which is the city's town hall.

Piazza della Signoria where we found over priced gelati which we felt obligated to eat at 10 am.

Our tour started here Piazza della Republica which marks the middle of the medival town.

We headed to the old market where rubbing the nose on the Fontana del Porcellino means that you will one day come back to Firenza. 

Next we went to the Uffizi Gallery.  We had a fabulous tour and lecture on Florentine painters, the Medici collection and also a history of Florence/Tuscany. 

Picture overlooking Ponte Vecchio and the hallway built above it so the governors of the city could travel from the Pitti Palace to Palazzo Vecchio in private.

The Fountain of Neptune by Baralomeo Ammannati in the Piazza della Signoria.

It was a short and beautiful walk to the Cathedral.  It took nearly 140 years to "complete". 

The part just underneath the red brick dome was never covered with marble.  It was never finished!

What a gorgeous and colorful front. 

One of the doors on the baptistery of St. John. 

We ended our tour at the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's original David. 

In front of Logia dei Lanzi on the Palazzo Vecchio which is a fantastic sort of open air museum. 

Replica of David in front of Palazzo Vecchio.

Great weather and great food!

We wanted to go to Zermatt, but the weather was just too poor to drive all that way and not be able to see the Matterhorn so on a whim we decided to stay an extra night in Florence and spend the next day in Siena. 

Torre del Mangia and Palazzo Publicco in the Piazza del Campo.

I guess we were up before all the rest of Italy because no one was around when we got there!

Chris in front of the Fonte Gaia

Siena is famous for the horse race (Palio di Siena) around the Piazza del Campo in which horses from ten out of the seventeen wards of the city compete.

Sometimes the best places are off the beaten path!  Favorite experience in new cities is always getting lost!

I think my favorite church/cathedral I have ever been to has got to be in Siena.  The Duomo di Siena  is like nothing else! 

I love the strips!

It is pretty massive!

I usually don't add pictures of the inside, but it was so unique I had to.  The strips continue on all the pillars inside and the floors are all carved marble mosaics. 

After our day in Siena we took the country road back to Florence.  Tuscany is pretty even in cloudy weather!

Back at our great hotel for one more night then back to Zurich through the tunnel one last time.