Fantastic Florence.....

Internet connections are a bit hard to come by in Volterra, hence we are a few days behind. Florence is truly a city of history perpetuated through art. At every turn there are magnificent paintings, frescoes, statues - housed in equally magnificent buildings or lining the squares and streets. Our hotel was in the heart of the historic and artistic quarter and we were just a few minutes walk from the Galleria del Accademie, where several Michalengelo statues and paintings are housed. Here we saw the magnificient statue of David, sculpted by Michelangelo in 1504 at the age of 29. Although several metres tall, it is perfectly proportioned and breathtakingly beautiful. We were unable to photograph it but a replica was on display outside the Palazzo Vecchio, where the original stood until 1873. The outside of the adjacent Uffuzi Gallery was lined with statues of past greats including Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Macchiavelli, Donatello and Gallileo. Another highlight was the Capelle Medicee, the burial place of the Medici grand dukes. The chapel itself is breathtaking, with its dome reaching a height of 67 metres. The highly-decorated urns, all made of silver, contain bones from the bodies (creepy). On to the Duomo - Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore - which is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. Begun in 1296, it took 150 years to complete and has the spectacular ceiling frescoes that we have come to expect of Italian churches. Space precludes us from detailing all the magnificent sights, however our final venture in Florence was a stroll across the 14th century Ponte Vecchio (bridge), originally lined with butcher shops until the Medicis built a corridor under the bridge to link two palaces. Since then it has been the home to expensive jewellery stores. Next stop - Volterra, in the heart of Tuscany.