Watch out for the bicycles!!!

Our first day in Florence has been great. We arrived last night after the long flight and got to our nice little BandB, the Badia guesthouse. It's in a great location between the Piazza de la Signoria and the Duomo. We went straight out for a walk and saw one of the most beautiful sites anywhere, the Duomo. I had read a lot about this masterpiece of architecture, especially the building of the dome, by Fillipo Bruneleshi, so finally seeing it in person was breathtaking. Tomorrow I plan on climbing it, but for now it was enough just to see it.

Bruneleschi's dome...



We wandered about the streets of Florence until 10:30 when we finally decided to eat. Unfortunately, almost all of the restaurants close at 10, so we had a hard time finding a place. We ended up at a nice restaurant and had carpaccio of duck breast (unreal), Parma ham (like butter) and a fettucini in cuttlefish sauce (very black ink), which was quite different.

There weren't all that many people on the street, but there were a lot of locals on bicycles. You really have to watch your step, as they will run right over you if you're not carefull.

This morning (Sunday) we were up at dawn and walked down to the Arno. We were about the only people on the street except for a few locals jogging or going to church. The sight of the Ponte Vecchio in the early morning sunlight was spectacular, as was the colors of the homes along river.

After breakfast in our guesthouse, we headed to the Duomo museum. There are some great works here, including Michelangelo's pieta (the later one) and the wooden statue of Mary Magdelene by Donatello. There are also the original panels from the doors of the Babtistry of Ghilberti. These are just unbelievable...the detail is unreal.

Michelangelo's pieta...



From here we went to the Medici Chapel which has many carvings of Michelangelo. On the way there we went through the San Lorenzo market, where you can buy leather (a lot of leather everywhere), scarves, t shirts, pottery and some really tacky souveniers, such as boxer shorts with a picture of the David's you know what right in the correct spot.

Most of the afternoon we spent just wandering around the streets and ended up in the Oltarno, the other side of the river, where few tourists go. We had a nice lunch...sandwich and wine...for only 4 euros. I had a sandwich of salami and cheese, Amy had prosciutto and cheese. From here we went to the Brancacci Chapel, which has some of the most beautiful frescoes anywhere. These are the frescoes of Massacio, who painted frescoes of what look like REAL people,which was unheard of at the time. Before Massacio, people were painted very idealistically, but he painted people with real emotion and even painted people who were crippled (who were getting healed by St. Peter).

Here is Massaicio's painting of Adam and Eve being thrown out of Paradise...



This evening we are gettinga thunderstorm and getting a lot of rain, so we are in this internet cafe trying to get dry. Soon, though, it's dinner time and we will be looking for something tasty.