Firenze, Day II

Our second day in Firenze was quite exciting, too. Yiting and Rosie finally joined us after enjoying a second day in Roma, and there's still so much for us to see here. We checked into our new hostel, where the four of us would be staying, before hitting the city again. The two of them wanted to see the David, so while they went up there, Sara and I got in line to go inside of the Duomo, seeing as the Galleria dell'Accademia doesn't take particularly long to see. The inside of the Duomo is amazing, huge and grand, although we weren't allowed into the altar area, which would have been amazing. I could only crane my neck and try to see up the dome. I wish we could have taken the tour of the dome, or done the walk up the Campanile, but that would have taken more time than we had. Inside, there was a staircase downstairs to a basement portion where a gift store was, so I stood there reading a bit of history about the Medici family. I especially like Lorenzo de' Medici, a brilliant statesman and patron of the arts.

After seeing the Duomo, we walked slowly south, passing again through the Paizza della Signoria, but this time we actually went into the Uffizi Gallery. It is an art gallery with many impressive paintings, particularly the one of Venus on the shell. The museum is also rather large, comprised of three or so wings. After the museum, which took most of the afternoon, we headed to the Ponte Vecchio, which we crossed, and headed towards the Piazza Michelangelo, a large plaza overlooking the city. The hike of the large hill wasn't the most enjoyable, but it felt good and the view was incredible. The city just spread out before us, with the Ponte Vecchio and the Palazza Vecchio to our left, the Duomo looming over the city in front of us, and the Basilica of Santa Croce to our right, which houses the tombs of many famous scholars, including Michelangelo and Galileo. Unfortunately we never got to go inside of it. But the hike up the hill was definitely worth it.

Afterward, we needed to head to the train station so that Sara and I could book tickets for the scenic train to Paris the next day that Yiting and Rosie had tickets for. We walked slowly, and stopped in this neat art gallery, with an interesting picture of the Duomo as if riding on water, and a rather interesting spinning item on the wall. While walking, we decided that Rosie and I would go get the tickets while Yiting and Sara headed back to the hostel to drop stuff off, and would then meet us at the restaurant for dinner. Fortunately for Rosie and me, the ticket booth was still open. Unfortunately for us, there was a long line, and right before we got up there, after waiting half an hour, they closed promptly at nine. How very nice of them. And when I say promptly at nine, I mean it. So we hustled over to the restaurant where Yiting and Sara were waiting, and got another delicious meal and a bottle of Italian wine.

We then headed back to the hostel, but not before stopping in a little convenience store, buying more wine, and having our picture taken with the Indian guy working there. They were very friendly, and apparently it is popular amongst them to have their picture taken with foreigners. It was rather entertaining. But tomorrow Sara and I will have to head to the train station early to try to book tickets on this scenic train, which doesn't go as planned. (Does it ever?) Anyway, it was a great second day in Firenze, which is an incredible city.