Enroute to Florence from Rome we saw a change in scenery. I’m sure part of that was being in the countryside rather than the city!

Barbara, our guide, pointed out a walled city on a hill called Orte. I wished we could stop and visit but it’s not on our itinerary so can’t happen. I’ll have to settle for a few interesting facts. A walled city is called Fuedo, from which we get our word feudal.

The architecture in Florence was very different than in Rome. The buildings were squarer, and not as ornate.

Our hotel was beside the Arno River, which gave us a pleasant place to walk after Emily and I got turned around in the business of the city as we looked for a place to have dinner. That’s a story you’ll have to ask me about in person!

The next morning our bus dropped us off a short walk from the Academia Gallery. This former art school housed many paintings and sculptures, including those of Michelangelo. We saw several statues that he had started but never finished. Our guide described these figures as being trapped in the marble.

At the end of the hall stood the 17 foot statue of David. The detail is incredible, from the muscles, to fingers and toes and even veins in his arm. Many of you know that this statue is a depiction of David from the Bible, the one who killed Goliath with a sling and a stone. In this statue, he held a stone in his right hand. The left hand, up by his shoulder, held the sling, which could be seen on his back when we walked behind him. What incredible workmanship!

Next we walked to the Piazza de Duomo, the main plaza. There is a large cathedral there that is faced with three colours of marble – white, green, and pink – all sourced in Italy. So much money was spent making it look good on the outside that they ran out of funds and the inside is very plain. I found it interesting to hear the building next to the cathedral is a baptistry. Non-Christians were not allowed in the church so needed to be baptized before they could enter!

Next we visited a goldsmith who showed our group some of his creations, including a white cold bracelet that was cut to look like diamonds, From there we went to the other end of the square to visit one of the premier leather makers. He demonstrated embossing leather, adding gold leaf designs and told us about the various grades of leather. First grade is from the top of the hide, second from the middle and third from the bottom layer and not good quality. Both places offered discounts to our group but the prices were still too high to entice me to purchase.

Emily and I spent our free time perusing vendors in the square.

She picked up a few souvenirs and we had gelato for lunch before making the long walk back to the hotel in 35C heat. With only 40 minutes to spare before leaving for our next activity, we quickly donned our bathing suits and went for a 10 minute dip in the roof top pool. Now we were refreshed and ready for our next adventure.