On the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.
Looking down the bridge.
Arnolfo's Palace in Palazzo Vecchio.
Hey check it out, its Medusa's head.
The magnificent Duomo.
The Duomo is a big and beautiful church
Santa Croce
After our visit to David at the Academia.
Climbing the Duomo
Views from the top of the Duomo
Views from the Cupola towards the bell-tower known as the Campanile di Giotto.
Looking out to the Tuscan Hills
Brillient
More great views
Florenzi roof tops
Down the dome.
Here my big head again at the top of the Duomo
Inside the cupola.
Late afternoon in Florence
Ponte Vecchio apparently means 'old bridge.'
A blury photo of a statue of Leonardo De Vinci
The old library
Cally and I with the Duomo in the background
My token photo of David since your not allowed to photograph the real thing
This is a statue of the guy who designed the bridge, Taddeo Gaddi. Im guessing you can see the locks. Its rumoured that if you put a lock on the bridge it means you are going to return. (that had better be correct Jude.) Occasionally the government will remove them all. :)
There are lots of jewelery stores that line both sides of the bridge which passes over the Arno River.
This crazy thing wouldnt fit in one photo, so I went with this shot to show the scale of the building in comparison to people. It has a big tower on top of it that reaches up another 94m and is the highest in the city. Today it contains the offices of the City Council.
The Cathedral or Duomo of Florence as we see it today is the end result of years of work that covered over six centuries of history.
It was designed by 3 different architects and once this is pointed out to you, you can really pick the different stages of building.
The tombs of Michelangelo and Niccolo Machiavelli are inside here. The Basilica here is one of the largest churches in the city.
Apparently some form of ancient football is played in the courtyard at the front of the Santa Croce. Its played annually during a festival and in its traditional form is very competitive and violent.
Natalie, Becks, Carly, Cally, Lillah and Kristel with part of the Duomo in the background.
A photo taken looking out a small window on the way to the top.
Look at the tower of the Arnolfo's Palace.
Can you see the Santa Croce?
Becks and I spent over half an hour up here just gazing out at the brillient views in all directions.
Dont fall.
Loving in.
Gazing up at the ceiling
A better view of the Ponte Vecchio. In the early 1300's it was partially destroyed by floods and rebuilt with stone as opposed to wood. This photo was taken from Ponte alle Grazie, another bridge.
In order to connect the Palazzo Vecchio (Florence's town hall) with the Palazzo Pitti, in 1565 Cosimo I de Medici had Giorgio Vasari build the famous "Vasari corridor" above it. To enforce the prestige of the bridge, in 1593 he prohibited butchers from selling there; their place was immediately taken by gold merchants. The corporative association of butchers had monopolised the shops on the bridge since 1442.
Apparently Michelangelo used to visit here.
Photographing things like that only destroys them and I woundn't want that resting on my conscience.
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On the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.
This is a statue of the guy who designed the bridge, Taddeo Gaddi. Im guessing you can see the locks. Its rumoured that if you put a lock on the bridge it means you are going to return. (that had better be correct Jude.) Occasionally the government will remove them all. :)