Sunday, May 11 - Firenze

Happy Birthday Nicole! Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who is a mother, or who does motherly things! After an early breakfast, we boarded the bus for the drive to Firenze (Florence). We saw more of Rome as we left and got onto the A1 highway through Umbria and into Tuscany.

After a couple of hours, we stopped at a service centre type of place called Autogrill. We all agreed that it was the very definition of chaos, but the coffee and pastries were great and the washrooms were clean. We passed several ancient hilltop Etruscan towns – hilltop for defence and to avoid malaria from the swamps in the lower areas. There were red poppies and yellow broom in flower, adding colour to the rolling landscape. In Florence, we found an outdoor restaurant for lunch, then everyone met back at the Academia Museum

, where we saw Michelangelo’s David

– the original, complete with some flaws, damage and a bit of graffiti. Stunning! Then we walked to the

 Cattedrale di Santa Maria, with its famous dome and baptistry, and on through narrow streets to the Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenzi, with its very

active plaza. There we visited the gold corner and spent some time people-watching. Larry had opted to take a taxi from the museum to the Piazza Santa Croce, so met the rest of us there. He’s having some leg problems, so this was the wise course. From there, we walked along the Arno to the bus. The drive to the San Gimignano area, and our lovely accommodation at Villa San Paolo, was different, along narrow winding roads, with some rain falling. The scenery was spectacular, with cypress and olive trees and vineyards. We settled into our room, then had a lovely dinner in the hotel dining room. Long tiring day and we both seem a little sun-burned, 

 

Link to Photos of the Day.  Click to view full photos