Then we ate a quick pizza and met up with Jill, who is on our trip and engaged to a local Firenzian, and she gave us the tour around the major sites in the city, including the Duomo, which you could fit 3 of the Orvietan Duomos in.  She also showed us the original church was excavated under the existing church.  There is a stairwell in the middle of the church that leads down to it’s ruins, and there’s a small archaeological museum down there.  We then saw Dante’s home, and found a place where you could buy a beer from a soda machine, and an entire hot pasta dish from a snack machine.  I kinda wish we had that in the states.  After a quick break for a drink, we went across the river (I don’t remember the name of it off hand, but it’s the major river through Firenze) and up to the Piazza del Michelangelo.  This is basically a country club’s parking lot that has a garden off the side of it (which is absolutely gorgeous) and the best view of the city short of a helicopter ride.  We rested and took pictures here, and then went to meet Jill’s fiancé on the Ponte del Vechhio.  This is a very famous bridge with the best jewelry stores in Firenze, and a secret tunnel over the top that went from the Medici palace across the river.  Cosimo Medici had it built in case the castle was ever under attack.  I did some shopping on the bridge before we went on to meet some of Jill’s friends who took us up to a balcony on a hotel that had another great view of the city.  We took another break and had a drink to cool off (Jill is a great tour guide, but walks fast) our last stop before we had to leave was the Medici Palace itself.  This place was absolutely huge and beautiful as well.  The best part was that I was able to pick up a painting of the city from one of the local artists.  The garden in front of the Medici Palace is full of them.

 

 

 

 

~Nick Quinn

a.k.a. Poncho!