A Bus with a View: Two Days in Florence

On Monday morning we moved on to Florence. On the way, at the suggestion of our bus driver, we stopped briefly to visit the American World War 2 cemetery south of Florence.  It was a beautiful and moving experience.

We arrived in Florence (in Italian, Firenze) in the late morning and had an afternoon free to explore that small but very interesting Tuscan city. All around us were beautiful churches filled with great art, ancient palaces, trendy shops, sidewalk cafes and hordes of tourists.

Many of our group decided to first experience Florence from the top of a double-decker tour bus. This is always a good way to at least glimpse a city's best known places and to get a bit of a sense of a city's layout.
As I was still without a camera, I have no pictures to offer from my most recent trip to Florence. Patsy Nolan has come to my rescue again by allowing me to share with you some of her photos.  Patsy's pictures begin with the view from the top of the bus.  In addition to the few shown here, see more of them on our Facebook page (click here).  (I confess to also inserting here a few pictures I've taken on previous trips to Florence.)

On Tuesday we enjoyed a guided tour of Florence led by Paola, a very witty and pleasant Florentine, proud of her city and anxious to share it with us.  We began in the enormous, fabulous food market and continued on through the outdoor "leather market" filled with many offerings of fine apparel and accessories.

Paola then led us into the center of the city, toward the famous "duomo" -- the cathedral -- which we entered. She explained the history of the building to us, and the history of the beginning of the renaissance in Florence.

Paola showed us the famous carved doors of the Baptistry, located next to the duomo.  Next Paola took us to a little-known, medieval tower house where we could see for ourselves how wealthy Florentines lived 500 years ago.

Of course we saw the copy of Michelangelo's David in the central square of the city, so full of tourists. Next we  to the famous church called Santa Croce -- Holy Cross.

We scattered for lunch and for exploring the city (a.k.a. shopping) before meeting again around 4:00 for a tour of the Uffizi Gallery, home to some of the greatest art in the world.

In the evening we enjoyed dinner in several places in town, and one last night at our most interesting hotel, the Hotel Cellai. We can recommend the Cellai to anyone making a trip to Florence: it is a living piece of history. Probably opened (or re-opened) ca. 1950, very little has changed since. There are several public rooms, including a billard room, all decorated in post-war vintage style. It's very European and very lovely if a bit quirky in places.