Italian Honeymoon, part VIII: Florence--The Duomo & Ponte Vecchio

We navigated the streets of Florence after getting off the train.

We tried to save money where we could, so avoided public transportation whenever possible. This meant a one+ mile walk with three suitcases to our hotel! I don't regret our decision, but I'm sure hubby can attest that I was whining at the time! (it wasn't exactly sitting in the lap of luxury) But that's how we did this Italian honeymoon, and I wouldn't have traded it for any amount of cobblestone streets with suitcases in tow!

We loved the place we stayed: Residenza Il Villino, another family owned, tiny, charming hotel, with another lovely courtyard.

And a view! Sure we had to walk up three flights of stairs in a claustrophobia inducing stairwell...it was worth it for this:



We navigated the streets again, based solely on the sight of the duomo from our window, and eventually arrived





magnificado!

and he isn't too bad looking, if I do say so myself:





we made plans to climb up the duomo the following day, and continued to stroll through the streets of Florence, with a gelato stop or two, until we got to the Ponte Vecchio bridge







Then we crossed the bridge (while ogling all the pretty jewelry) and began our trek up the hill to Piazza del Michaelangelo, which boasts some of the best views of the city.

these stairs were no joke! But much better scenery than a stairmaster.


the view a little more than halfway up








The view from the top was lovely and we wanted to spend more time there, so we made plans to come back on our last night in Florence to watch the sun set.

ahh, there's so much more! can you handle it all?

Here is a really quick summary of some more of Florence.

We climbed the 463 steps to the top of the duomo
halfway up I snapped this picture of the amazing muraled ceiling:


The climb was not for the claustrophic or smokers amoung us.


but the view was totally worth it! I'm hoping to stitch these photos together for a sweet landscape, but here is a taste:

To give you an idea of how high we were up: see those teensy ants toward the bottom of the picture? yipes! I'm feel nauseous.

But the best part! E is really good directionally, and he found our hotel from the top of the Duomo. (see photo from other direction near the top of this post.) Check out our windows!

i love the juxtaposition of sweet country side with this [gorgeous and historic but] dense city

Are you totally overwhelmed by all these pictures of Florence? I sure am. More to come. promise.

no really, I'll be back this time.