Deb's Blog

We’re heading to Venice to board our Viking ship today (Saturday, September 30). But 3 days ago we checked into a villa, high on top of a hill outside Florence. We arrived 20 min before dinner. Whew!

The next morning we spent most of the day in Florence, starting with a guided walking tour. 

The five major historical landmarks are: the Basilica of Santa Croce; the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower (Santa Maria del Fiore) which is the cathedral of Florence; the Uffizi Gallery art museum; the Palazzo Vecchio which is the town hall of Florence; and the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge that spans the Arno River.

The famous pair of gilded bronze doors on the Baptistry just next to the Cathedral were designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. They took 27 years to finish, are 17 feet tall and weigh 4-1/2 tons!! Michelangelo described the doors as the “Gates of Paradise,” and that’s how they are known to this day.

Wasn’t able to get last minute tickets for the Uffizi Gallery. Disappointing, but Joe and I had been there before, though decades ago. However we saw several of the 28 statues of famous Renaissance celebrities in the niches of the Uffizi colonnade.