Italy: Part 2 Florence

From the Italian Riviera we took the train to Florence. Passing through the Tuscan countryside we passed large mountains the size of the lower Olympics that were marble around the town called…Carrera. It was amazing to see where marble comes from and as we passed the industrial areas we saw piles of raw materials as well as finished materials to make countertops! The train windows were very dirty so no photos were possible.

We had read that there was some amazing architecture in Florence. The problem was that surprisingly, April was packed with tourists. We were not early enough to avoid the crowds and didn’t feel like standing in line for hours so mostly walked around. The streets were so croweded no other photo ops came up that weren’t blocked by people!

The major sight was the Duomo. As you can see from the pictures below it is huge! The contrast between the size of the building and the people is remarkable. It takes up an entire city block so I took photos from several sides.

These photos were taken early in the morning ahead of the crowds before the doors opened. Because the streets were so narrow and crowded, I didn’t get any other photos.

Below is a photo of the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge. We were surprised at how shabby it looked in person. It is a covered bridge with jewelry shops lining both sides of the bridge. I bought a pair of earrings there:)