Another picture of the Duomo (Bottom Right) taken early in the morning on the second day. Piazza della Repubblica (Bottom Left) marks the center of Roman city.
Palazzo Vecchio (Bottom Left) is now the town hall of Florence is located in Piazza della Signoria. This palace was built in the 13th- 14th century by Arnolfo di Cambio.
The courtyard (Bottom Right) which was the first of three in the Palazzo Vecchio. This courtyard was designed in 1453 by Michelozzo. This picture was taken from the entrance of the Palazzo, just before we pass through security. Yes, you need to get your bags scanned, etc before going into the Palazzo. The palazzo is also a museum and you need to pay about Euro 6 (not too sure) to view the galleries.
Fountain of Neptune (Bottom Left) at Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The fountain was commissioned on the occasion of a Medici family wedding in 1565.
Replica of David (Bottom Right) at Piazza della Signoria also in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. I wanted to see the real David which was exhibited at the Accademia Gallery, but we decided not to pay Euro 6.50 per person just because I wanted to see the real David by Michelangelo. Plus, it was a long line to get in and all. The Replica of David is actually to scale, so that was good enough for us I guess.
Across from the Palazzo Vecchio (and still in the same Piazza della Signoria) is the Loggia dei Lanzi (also known as Loggia della Signoria) (Bottom Left) which houses more than a dozen statues.
Uffizi Gallery (Bottom Right), which is one of the many museums/galleries in Florence. It was just behind the Pallazo Vecchio. We skipped this as well!
View Ponte Vecchio (Bottom), a medieval bridge which span across the Arno River. There were many jewelry shops on the bridge. There were some painters sitting by the river and painting the bridge. Most of them are almost done painting. All so talented as the pictures were all so pretty! I personally thought the bridge looked nicer in the picture. It didn’t really impress me much when I saw it with my own eyes. But this bridge sure has gone through a whirl wind of history including being the only bridge in Florence, not destroyed by Germans (as ordered by Hitler) during their retreat in 1944 (World War II).
View of the Arno River from the Ponte Vecchio (Bottom Left).
View of the Boboli Garden (Bottom Right) from the Pitti Palace. It was gonna cost us an additional fee to stroll in the garden. Since we were on a budget, and have planned for the Chianti tour, we skipped the garden. The Pitti Palace is a Renaissance palace which dates back to 1458 and was originally a residence of a wealthy and ambitious banker, Lucca Pitti. The Medici family then bought the palace in 1549 and the palace became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti) is now the largest museum complex in Florence. It is home to many spectacular masterpieces from famous artist such as Raphael and Corregio. The ceiling inside the galleries were to die for. I became very obsessed with the beautiful intricate ceilings soon after! No pictures were allowed inside the gallery, so I can’t take any! Entrance to the gallery was about Euro 10 or so.
View of Florence from the Pitti Palace (Bottom). The view from the museum was spectacular, I just had to ask the guards/staff if I could take a picture of the scenery from inside the museum since we’re not allowed to take pictures of the museum exhibits. The guy I asked was so nice, he moved the curtains aside and even open the large glass doors so that I can take a better picture of beautiful Florence! Grazie!!
After the visit to the Pitti Palace, we were off for our Chianti Wine Tour. Stay tuned for those pictures!
I love the pictures!
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