Firenze!

 

Florence is everything you'd expect it to be. Quintessential Italy in every way.

 

 

charming and refined and oh, so romantic.

 

(I see "photos prohibited" signs as nothing more than a challenge.) Hell-OOOO David.
 

 

My favorite memory of Florence, besides the perfect cobblestone streets and the decadent food (duh) was visiting the Santa Croce Church. There's a small admission fee and since we were on a tight budget we almost didn't go. But, commom sense prevailed and thank goodness it did. We may not have seen Michelangelo's sistine chapel, but we did get to see his final resting place. The tombs of so many iconic italians are here within these walls. It's a bevy of treasures and so, so beautiful.  To walk into one single place and see the tombs of  Machiavelli, Bruni and  Bartolini side by side is a little surreal. Even the bones of Galileo himself are here.  

 

 

 Baby Josh above. Below, Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise"
 

And now, (since we were terrible at documenting this trip) we've reached the portion of this post where all that are left are excessive amounts of photos of the Duomo. Just what you were hoping for - Enjoy!
 

 

aaaand you're welcome.