Friday August 19, 2005

Today was spent mostly walking about the city. We must have covered 20km on foot. We climbed the giant dome on Florence’s famous Doumo cathedral where we were treated to some fantastic views of the city.

The queue for the Uffizi Gallery was absurdly long; an electronic sign estimated a 3 to 4-hour wait for those of us without tickets, so it will have to wait until we return in winter.

We explored a very interesting food market where we had a nice lunch. Every part of every animal was for sale in the many specialist butchers, from snouts to testicles, you could even buy a whole sheep’s head. Probably a Mafia thing.

Ponte Vecchio: the buildings on the old bridge were mostly jewellery shops

Statue near Ponte Vecchio

The Fiume Arno

Ponte Vecchio