Florence 2

Our second day in Florence began with a trip to the Cathedral Santa Croce. This is the oldest cathedral in the city and houses the remains of some of the most famous Italians including Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli. The exterior is covered in white, green and pink marble and looks amazing despite it being nearly 600 years old. The inside is beautifully decorated with all of the chapels containing a tomb of a very important Franciscan. We took our time making our way around the huge space and admiring the amazing sculptures. In the back of the church is a small room dedicated to St. Francis who is said to have begun the parish in the late 1200’s. There is a piece of cloth from his robe and some of his other belongings on display in wooden cabinets. Connected to the very back of the church is a leather school. Here skilled craftsman create shoes, bags, and wallets using traditional techniques and tools. From the church we headed across town to the Uffizi Gallery.




Michelango's Tomb


Galileo's Tomb


Dante's Tomb



The Gallery is housed in what were originally the offices of the Florentine magistrates but are now filled with the enormous art collection of the Medici family. The vast hallways are absolutely packed with amazing works from a myriad of different artists and periods. It was overwhelming at times but we managed to make it through and see the works by famous artists like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Titian, Botticelli, Raphael, and Rembrandt. It was amazing to see so many great works in just one building. I couldn’t take any pictures inside so I can’t show the paintings but I did manage to take a shot of the many sculptures sitting outside. After the museum we had another delicious meal of bread bowls full of a hearty stew. Florence is an absolutely amazing city; completely packed with amazing food, art, history, and despite the tourists a lot of culture. On our walk to the station we got another cone of delicious Gelato and were ready to hit the Mediterranean coast.