Day 11: Wonders of Renaissance Florence
Daily Briefing
We had free time through the morning and most of the afternoon to tour Florence on our own. We decided, based on Reid's advice, to buy a combination ticket called the Il Grande Museo Del Duomo which, for the price of 10 Euros, allows you to enter the Dome, the Baptistry, Giotto's Bell Tower, Santa Reparata, and the Opera Museum. We chose to visit the Bell Tower, the Church and the Opera Museum (which was partially closed).
Reid suggested climbing the Bell Tower instead of the dome because climbing the tower allows you to see the dome from above. This was great advice. It's 414 stone steps. They're well worn, narrow and there's no handrail so beware. But the view from the top is magnificent and you can see the dome in all it's beauty. This is an ideal spot from which to photograph this ancient city. National Geographic had a story in it's February 2014 edition on Brunelleschi's Dome which tells the fascinating story of the building of the dome, so we were very eager to see it in person. We proceeded to the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiori also known as Il Duomo di Firenze. It's not as spectacular as others but we thought it was worth the visit since we were there. The most interesting element is the painting on the inside of the dome, if only for the massive undertaking it must have been. Our last stop was the Opera Museum which contains the original Baptistry doors known as the Gates of Paradise. We met with the group in the middle of the afternoon for our tour of the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi contains a huge collection of Italian Renaissance art and the building itself is beautifully decorated. Following the gallery visit, Pam and I had a quick pizza and set off on one of the best of our evening photo shoots. We began by taking amazing sunset pictures of the Ponte Vecchio bridge and returned to the Piazza della Signoria for night photos of the wonderful gathering of some of the finest sculptures of the Renaissance and to the Medici Palace to shoot the fantastic wall and ceiling decorations. We wound up the day with some great shots of Florence at night. From Pam's Sketchbook
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Image of the Day
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