Part 2. Florence
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The view of the Arno River from the top floor of our Hotel.

The Ponte Vecchio. This old bridge has been intact since 1345 when it was Florence's only bridge.
The outside of the Cathedral in Florence

Left:
The dome of the Cathedral

Right:
The bronze doors of the Cathedral Baptistry

Left:
Underneath the dome of the Cathedral

Right:
Inside the Cathedral

Statue of Hercules in the Square.
High Mass in the Cathedral on Sunday morning. Much singing and organ music. Most of the service waa taken by very antique priests. The service started with two acolytes bearing candles processing in terribly slowly. They had to go terribly slowly because behind them were three terribly old priests who literally shuffled along behind them.
Even the organist was a very old priest, but give him his dues, he did play superbly well.

Ten minutes walk from our hotel, and just before the Ponte Veccio, is the Uffizi Gallery. Only the top floor is used, but the galleries stretch round on both sides of the building. We only queued for just under one hour which was very good. Later in the afternoon they were queuing for between four & five hours. Room after room containing the most pricesless originals from the great masters
Cross the Arno river by the Ponte Veccio and walk a little way to the south of the river to finf the Pitti Palace. It passed briefly in the 19th Century to the king of a united Italy. Now its museums take you into the rich world of the Medici, much as thet left it
Wonderful gardens behind the Pitti Palace, known as the Boboli Gardens, but it was really hard work pushing Penelope right to the top
However the views looking right over Florence were worth all the hard work.