We arrived at the train station and awaited our train.....notice the lovely old trains that are used at the Siena train station! I think they are older than all of us combined!
"Ollie, Give Reed a kiss!"..........
Thankfully the sun was out when we arrived in Florence, even if it was quite cold. Last time we went to Florence we barely had time to see any of the sights before it rained so this time we walked around a bit (after getting a quick bite to eat).
The Ponte Vecchio.
At one point (prior to 1218), the Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge that crossed the Arno River, connecting the Oltrarno (literally meaning "beyond the Arno") area of Florence with the rest of Florence. Today, the bridge is home to expensive jewelry stores. The earliest "shops" on the Ponte Vecchio were butchers and fishmongers who used the river as a dumping ground for their waste. In 1593, Ferdinando I evicted the butchers and fishmongers and installed eight jewelers and 41 goldsmiths, and doubled the rents for each store!
One of things I really wanted to do was walk up to Piazza Michelangelo and San Miniato al Monte. Along the way (about half way up a lot of stairs), we snapped this picture:
At Piazza Michelangelo; Ollie never seems to cooperate with picture taking!
San Miniato al Monte:
Perched on a hill overlooking Florence and the Arno River, San Miniato al Monte is the oldest surviving church in Florence after the Baptistry. From the church there are great views of Florence:
We headed back down to Florence just as the sun began to set......
.....and just in time to catch the sunset over the Ponte Vecchio......
The Duomo at night......
And....the train ride home....
Oliver is not the biggest fan of the trains. We think he got really scared on the train ride home from Rome.
1 comment:
Goodness that Oliver is cute. You two aren't so bad either, and neither is Florence apparently ;)
Happy Thanksgiving!
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