Day 7 - Florence

I spent the entire day in Florence with my cousins Massi and Mari Antoinetta and their significant others, G and Pasquale.  G and I woke up early and took the bus to the train station where we met up with the others and had breakfast.  Our train ride was only about 1 hour and G provided the translation so we could all talk.  

The first thing we did when we got to Florence was to go straight to the Uffizi Museum, which we already had tickets / reservations.  BTW, if you ever travel to Florence, I highly recommend purchasing your tickets for this museum ahead of time because the line is ridiculous and the 4 extra Euros per ticket are totally worth it!  

Anyway, so we went through the museum and after much wandering around finally found the famous Botticelli paintings of "Birth of Venus" and "Primavera."  Now, the museum states that no photography is allowed, but my cousins and I did not like this rule and with their help I snapped a few secret photos.  And I have to say, after practicing with them as my cover, by the end of the trip I had mastered 'secret' photo-taking all by myself.  

We started to get a little tired but still wanted to see more of the museum.  G and Massi needed to use the restroom and I was left with MariAntoinetta and Pasquale.  We each tried to communicate but were unsuccessful and decided to take pictures instead until G came back and could translate.  

Right after our visit to the Uffizi, we stopped for lunch where we had some great Italian food and wine.  The restaurant was very peculiar and it was like we were in the family wine cellar beneath the Inn that was upstairs.  Odd, but so good!

     

After lunch we went back to the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) 

and Baptistery.  Inside the Baptistery is absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking.  The Baptistery has a set of beautifully crafted bronze doors 

and the inside is a mosaic ceiling, which is simply incredible and stunning.  

Next we ventured over to the Accademia to see the famous David by Michelangelo.  Of course I took some secret pictures here as well and they actually were really good!  

G and I wandered around the rest of the museum and entered a room that was filled with unfinished works of art.  As we were looking at the pieces one of the guards started yelling at this man in Italian.  Well, he clearly did not understand so she switched to English and we overheard her say that she had to insist that he replace his shoes as it was against the rules to walk around the museum barefoot.  It was so funny!  Might have been one of those, need to be there moments, but trust me, it was hilarious.  

The next main attraction was to walk across the Ponte Vecchio, or 'old bridge.'  Here we got some gelato and the woman gave me such a huge amount of gelato I couldn't even finish it!  

At this point we had been walking around all day and were extremely tired so we took a bus up to Piazzale Michelangelo where there is a replica of the "David" and gorgeous views of Florence.  Massi, G, and I attempted to find the Rose Garden but got too exhausted when we got lost.  

Our last stop of the day was Santa Croce Church.  G and I were the only ones who went in because we lost one ticket and Massi opted out and the other two were just not interested.  It really is a beautiful church and there are a number of famous tombs inside, including Galileo Galilei and Michelangelo.  Unfortunately, the church was closing, we didn't have a map of the inside, and we couldn't find the names on all the tombs.  So, I took some pictures of the ones that I liked the most :)

We then headed back to Pisa; all going separate ways.  G and I ate are her place and were so tired we fell asleep immediately.