Florence - Day 2

To help us with our Florence touring, we purchased a 72 hour Florence card which gives admittance to many (not all) of the major museums and attractions in Florence.  An advantage to having the card is that you can skip the lines at the museums and enter busy locations like the Uffizi and Accademia without advance reservations.  A bit pricey, but worth it if you plan to visit a lot of museums.

We started our whirlwind touring in the morning at the Church of Santa Maria Novella.  It is noted for its artwork by Alberti, Giotto, and Brunelleschi.

Next to Santa Maria is a museum which includes the Green Cloister,  the Spanish Chapel, and other religious treasures.  We purchased our Florence card here because it is not very busy and saved us from standing in a long line.

Our next stop was the San Lorenzo church which was the parish church of the Medici family.  Quite a ugly brown facade, but a spectacular altar inside (no photos allowed). Next to the church is the Medici tombs.  Nothing unique about this exterior either, but the main interior tombs are lined with shiny green, pink, black, and white inlaid semiprecious stone.  Down a corridor is a second group of tombs that are decorated with statues by Michaelangelo.  No pictures allowed inside :-( which was the case with many places in Florence.

In the afternoon we went through the Galileo Museum - old compasses, telescopes, globes, and even two of Galileo's fingers!

Then onto the Palazzo Vecchio which for many centuries was the center of Florence's government.

 The walls and ceilings in the huge main hall are quite amazing!

Some amazing views out the windows looking out at the roofs of Florence.

In the evening we walked out to the Ponte Vecchio. There was a perfect reflection looking out at the bridge which absolutely glowed in the amber light as the sun went down.

We walked along the Arno River and enjoyed an amazing Florentine sunset.  What a perfect ending to the day!