I thought I'd put several pictures on this post since it was our first really spectacular day weather-wise in Florence. Ryan and I had to go pick up some school supplies and we were near the Duomo just before sunset and decided to just go ahead and go in since it was nearly empty (January and February being cold and a very good times to visit here!). We climbed the 463 steps to the top and had magnificent views of the city just before sunset. I could hear the Italians saying "spettacolore" and knew just what they meant. Ryan also took a picture of the frescoes (frescoes were painted in 14th century and onward and replaced the mosaic...fresco means "fresh" because they were painted on wet plaster) inside the Cupola...after you climb a number of stairs you are staring right up at this fresco (below) and it looks like the workers are climbing right out at you. As we climbed back down, there was a room on the side with some of the implements used to get materials up to the top...a huge pulley system that was counter-weighted...oxen would just go round and round in circles all day inside the church to hoist the beams, bricks, stone to complete the dome. When you're inside the Cupola (before going outside to walk around the walkway), you look down at the magnificent inside of the church with its inlaid marble floors.
Speaking of spectacles, yesterday it was raining and I visited the Museum Specola, which forms part of the natural history museum of the University of Florence since 1775. There were more mounted animals there than you could imagine...it was haunting to look at elephants, rhinos, monkeys, polar bears, every type of bird you could imagine...all preserved and in these old glass cases. But the most amazing part were the waxworks, specifically the medical models showing with precision every part of a human anatomical dissection. The most mind-blowing were the three-dimensional (diorama-like) large boxes showing "scenes" from Florence during the plague...rotted corpses, rats, mushrooms growing from the devastation...all in unbelievable detail...of course, with an angel or two hovering above. Surreal. Night at the Museum 3 should be filmed right here!
Also, I also have a picture here of some of the "love padlocks" that lovers place on the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) and then throw the key in the Arno. But, alas, they've been removed and placed on chain links near the Arno, not on the bridge...wonder if that still means their love is "eternal?"
Our landlady told us yesterday the noise we hear from the Piazza until all hours of the morning is from the drunk American college students...they really cut loose here. We are still finding our way around, trying to avoid being hit by Vespas (which means "wasp" by the way!).
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| Duomo (top of Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral) just before sunset |
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| Campanile (bell tower) of Santa Maria de Fiore |
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| View of Florence from top of Duomo (463 steps up!) |
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| Palazzo Antellesi |
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| Frescoes inside the Cupola of Duomo |
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Some of the "love padlocks"near the Ponte Vecchio (legend is if you attach a lock somewhere on the Ponte Vecchio bridge and throw the key in the Arno River, your love is eternal---only thing is they've moved the locks off the bridge!)
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