Firenze in February

Emily was out of school the last week of February. They called it the "White Week," and it had something to do with Carnevale (Mardi Gras), but I'm not sure what. So, we decided to take a couple of days and go to Firenze (Florence). Jeff and I had been to Firenze in 2006 on vacation, but Emily had not been. It is a very beautiful and nice city, and we had a good time.

We took the train down Monday night, and Tuesday morning headed out to see the church of Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as the Duomo. We got there before it opened to tourists, and ended up being the first ones inside that morning. It wasn't too crowded that early, and I got several good pictures.

This is a view of the front of the church. There are so many buildings around, you can't really get far enough away to get a full view of the front with no obstructions.

Jeff and Emily in front of one of the main doors to the church. Gives you an idea of how big and ornate they are.

This is the top of the dome, with people out on the walkway around the cupola. We did not go up there.
The marble floor inside the church. The inside is not as ornate as the outside, but it is still very beautiful.
This is the mosaic floor under the church. You can go down under the floor of the main cathedral and see some of the excavations to older parts of the church, as well as some of the Roman structures that predate the church entirely.
Here is a view of the side of the cathedral, where you can see the dome a little better.

After we saw the church, we had booked a tour of the Galleria dell'Accademia, where Michelangelo's David is housed. Jeff and I had not seen it when we were in Firenze previously, so we wanted to do it this time. It was well worth it. Everyone has seen pictures of the David (and you're not allowed to take any in the museum), but there is no way you can truly appreciate it if you don't see it in person. The exquisite detail is breathtaking. There are many other works of art in the Galleria, but the David is definitely the centerpiece, and you can stand and marvel at it for hours. We learned some interesting facts from our guide on the tour, but I'm not sure that it was worth it to book the tour. The line was not very long at the Accademia, so I don't know that we saved any time there.

That afternoon, the other half of our tour took place at the Uffizi Galleries, with a different guide. That one was definitely worth the tour. Not only did we get to bypass the line, but the Uffizi can be totally overwhelming (we had gone there previously without a guide), and our guide was extremely well-informed, and full of interesting facts about the works of art that we saw, as well as the history of the Galleries themselves. There are many masterpieces in the Uffizi, and, while we certainly did not see them all, we got a good overview and saw several. No photos allowed in the Uffizi, either, though we got a few outside.

The courtyard of the Uffizi is surrounded by statues of artists, scientists, and important historical figures. Here is Jeff in front of the statue of Michelangelo.

Emily was fascinated by the "moving statues" outside the museum. Here she is with one of them.

Just down from the Uffizi Galleries is the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio (pictured above), the oldest bridge in Firenze. It has been a center of trade since the Middle Ages.

On Wednesday, our last day in Firenze, we went to the Pitti Palace, which we had not visited before. We toured the main art galleries (which were awesome), and the Royal Apartments (also beautiful).
This is the Piazza in front of the Palazzo Pitti. No pictures allowed inside.

Before time to catch our train home, we went back to the Piazza dei Signoria for a last look at the Palazzo Vecchio (unfortunately no time for a tour), and the statues.

The Palazzo Vecchio.Emily with her favorite statue of Perseus and Medusa.

We had a very enjoyable trip. We didn't see everything, but it's only a 90 minute train ride to go back again, so I'm sure we will!