Florence (We couldn't get an arial view, so this is a photo from the internet)
Lovely Florence, center of the Renaissance, is a wealth of fabulous art and architecture. In my opinion, today is the most important day of our itinerary and the crown jewel is Michelangelo's David, truly a not to be missed. But, alas, a couple weeks ago I realized that the Galleria dell'Accademia where the David is housed was not on our itinerary. Ivan (our Tour Manager) to the rescue... Though tickets are generally sold out weeks in advance, he was able to obtain enough tickets for our group. So, we rearranged our tour a bit to go there first thing.
 Even with advance purchase tickets, we had a bit of a wait to get in. |  Seeing the David in real life was well worth the wait. Michelangelo was only 27 when he created it. |
Santa Croce where Michelangelo, Rossini, Machiavelli, and Galileo Galilei are buried
 Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore |  Typical street scene |
We continued our walking tour of the city’s treasures and monuments, including the Piazza del Duomo, the center of religious life in medieval Florence, and the Piazza della Signoria. We had the afternoon to explore independently. Unfortunately, the temperatures were in the 90's so most of us tried to stay in the shade...
Exhausted we returned to our villa where we cleaned up and enjoyed a lovely dinner on the patio.
Exhausted we returned to our villa where we cleaned up and enjoyed a lovely dinner on the patio.
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 I thought you'd enjoy a creative version of our photo of Pete modeling a leather jacket |  We're spending 4 nights in Tuscany. |
