The Sights of Florence

Florence day two:

Today was another day like the ones we had in Rome and Venice. It was spent all day on our feet. We walked from our hotel in the north end of the city down to the Ponte Vecchio. It's about two miles to the river and along the way are some of the best sights that Florence has to offer.

First we stopped at the Duomo. Originally Michelangelos "David" stood in front of the Doumo for more than a few hundred years. At one point a table or chair was thrown out of a church window and hit his left arm and broke it off. Later his arm was repaired and he was moved to the current location in the Accademia Museaum.

Just like at the Vatican you can walk up 430+ stairs to the top of the coupla and get an incredible 360 degree view of the city. We spent about 45 minutes up there taking pictures and getting ready for the retreat down.

After the Duomo we walked down towards the Ponte Vecchio and stopped at the Palazzo Vecchio. A fantastic plaza with statues, a church, museum and lots and lots of people. Florence is so far our favorite stop. It does not have the same old sites like Rome but it has a charm that is quite different. The Italians seem to be more fashionable here than they were down south.

The city has taken a very proactive approch to stem purchases of "Fake" designer knock off bags, belts and sunglasses. They have signs everywhere that say "Don't Buy Fake" and yet you stand looking into the window of a Gucci or LouisVuitton store and in front of the store are 5 guys with fake bags selling them to tourists for $50 euros. It's really quite funny that they won't crack down on the vendors but will put out signs.

Anyhow it's clear to us that in Florence Italians are very stylish and pride themselves on sereval key fashion items. From top to bottom it's sunglasses, good jewelry, nice watch, pants as tight as possible (trendy brand prefered) and last but not least great shoes or boots. They love shoes in Florence! Ahem, as you will see, so do we.

Ponte Vecchio was the next stop. The bridge was the ony bridge spared by the Germans in the second World War because even Hitler appreciated it's beauty. The bridge is lined with gold and silver stores along the inside and has a great view in the middle. After the visit we stopped for lunch and a coffee in a near by trattoria. We re-charged our batteries and then headed off to do some shopping.

Shoes have been bought and there will no doubt be more shoe purchases. 40-60 Euros buys you hand made Italian leather shoes that can last for years. The same you would pay hundreds for at Nordstroms.

We still want to buy a leather bag and an Italy sweatshirt before we hit the road again. But there will be a few more purchases in Florence before we leave.

If you want to have a sneak peek at our Monday itinery, visit www.500touringclub.com. We met the charming British owners this afternoon, Sophie and Alex. Which car do you think we should choose?

Until next time

Ciao