DAY 14, FRIDAY, JULY 8
We started today with a visit to the amazing duomo (cathedral dome). One thing that was as consistant as the art in the places we visited was the restoration of it. You maybe able to see the crack that is going through the lower part of the dome. Every single major cathedral that we visited was scaffolded. This was a minor disappointment as it sortof shredded the romance of a place, but it became a running joke as we went from location to location. "Look more scaffolding"!
Here is the duomo.
People walk or ride bikes or motorbikes. Here are my guys outside of the cathedral trying (unsuccessfully) to blend in as statues. Notice the scaffolding behind them.
Lunch in piazza della republica just steps away from our hotel. Here we have pizza and on a rare occasion coke to drink. Soda drinks are consumed mainly by the tourists as wine is the main thing. At this point I was desperate for some carbonation so we "splurged" as cola costs twice as much as wine. We found that in some places the difference was as staggaring as a bottle of wine at 2 euros compared to a can of coke at 4 euros.
After lunch Bryan and I venture out to take more pictures. Here he is with his back to me in a small section of one of the smaller churches (don't laugh this one was small) Not yet a tourist point I was free to use a tripod and photograph whatever I wanted. With only a handful of people coming in for service I could see why these grand cathedrals were becoming museums needing to generate income by selling religious trinkets.
That evening we shifted from art to music. Miraculously when we arrived in florence Bryan had spotted a poster in the square advertising a free concert being held in the piazza (square) just outside the uffizi. Beethoven's 9th conducted by Zubin Mehta (very famous conductor) with choir and orchestra. I didn't have a clue who Zubin Mehta was but it was obvious that it was Bryan's turn to get excited. So that night after dinner at a restaurant in the square we took in a concert under the stars. It was a rare thing to be in this ancient city among the statues and art casually listening to this amazing music with the good people of florence and other travelers like ourselves. People came out on their balconies in the buildings that surrounded the square to enjoy the concert too. A truly amazing night.
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