It's a Wonderful Life in Europe: Spring Break: Florence, Italy

From the ridiculous to the sublime.....

One day after Fasching, we took off for Florence, Italy. I had just read "The Agony and the Ectasy" - the story of Michelangelo. Perfect pre-read for visiting his hometown.

We were all walking from the train station to our hotel, bags in hand, when we stopped in one of the many Piazza's to check our map. All of a sudden, I heard my name being yelled from somewhere. It was our good friend Kari Graven from Brookings, who was on an extended visit to Florence. She was a perfect host for our 3 days there.

Duomo and Bell Tower

River Arno

Kari and our Crew

After visiting the museum holding Michelangelo's famous David sculpture, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a bus above the city to M's very own piazza. What a view from here.

View of the Arno River with the Ponte Vecchio

The view from Piazza de Michelangelo was stunning so we stopped at a restaurant that had a terrace overlooking the city. We all got pizza of course.

Duomo

This part of Italy is the "white sauce" part.... the lasagna is not tomato based, but instead has amazing white sauce. There are way too many restaurants to try, but Kari managed to get us into the most crowded ones with her inside connections.

Dome of Duomo

After visiting one amazing view, we took the long trip up to the top of the Duomo... all 367 steps. Eventually you make it outside at the very top. But just before that, you get to walk around the inside of the dome just below the paintings. It's a scary walk not only because of the height but also because you get a close up view of the carnage depicted on the dome. It's mostly end of days stuff....really scary hell depictions. So much for uplifting art when you come to church.

Portion of Dome frescoe

View from Dome

We talked to other expats here in Germany and many of them think Florence is the most beautiful city in Europe. Many have been back 2 or 3 times. There is so much to see and we were lucky it was off season. The crowds were light and the hotels reasonable.