Double Vision

Sean and I have had very different experiences of Firenze / Florence thus far.

Let me tell you first about Day 1ish. Then Sean will :) (now he won't... for now - we've removed his blog entry)

So Day 1 doesn't really count. We got off the train and thought we had a 10 min walk to the hotel. Not the case. First, it was pouring. Second, as with all euro towns it's very very narrow cobblestone sidewalks and streets. ugh. I have one suitcase that is 60lbs plus my backpack with computer gear. Sean has a suitcase that's deceptively smaller in appearance but weighs much more than mine..plus his computer bag. So, we're walking... .walking... walking. Turns out that the address I had gotten from the web, 76-red via s. gallo, was wrong. It's actually 76-black.. though I think it's really 76-blue since we're now here. The street numbering system in Florence consists of three different colors and so if you're at 76-red you may very well be 10 blocks away from 76-black. I'm rambling.

Needless to say, we finally found it and it's lovely. A true Florentine apartment.

Unfortunately, Sean spent what I refer to as the true Day 1 in bed and knocked out with some decent muscle relaxers. We missed our Uffizi appointment but managed to stumble into the Duomo for a moment. I later went out in the pouring rain myself to explore the Duomo and its adjacent museums further...The Duomo btw is the world's largest brick and mortar dome... and it's old. still not surpassed. here are my photos:

Our hotel..

Detail of Duomo facade

Mosaic designs that would have been on the floor

Oh, this is cool and I didn't feel like paraphrasing it. It's regarding the Pieta by Michelangelo... he's got two Pietas... this is his last one. The other, the one I knew about and want to see is in Rome.