Kelly Bertram

Today was our trip to Florence to do the Santa Maria del Fiore Duomo, Baptistery, Uffizi Museum, and Leather School. Since driving to Florence is taking your life in your hands we all came to the conclusion train is our best option. Again Florence is hot with a nice breeze but congested with people everywhere. We enjoyed breakfast at Sophie Loren cafe before going to the dome. I was hesitant to climb and did not make my decision until I was forced to at the bottom of the stairs. All of us climbed except Miriam and Linda. They are medieval stairs with narrow halls and corkscrew staircases. All 463 stairs are one way with only a few peeks out the windows for a breeze and catch your breath. They have balconies on the way up and down that surround the inside of the dome to admire the paintings on the ceilings. It amazes me how the men could paint these ceilings upside down at such a height that you would hate to forget a brush. I was feeling a little off just from the height and thank god it was a secure stone balcony. I had two rewards once I completed those stairs. One was the beautiful view of Florence and the cool, refreshing breeze. The other was the accomplishment of climbing those stairs not being short of breath or having sore legs. My endurance has improved on this trip and I feel great. Just need to keep it up when home. The Baptistery is made of marble on the outside with a door of pure gold. The inside was under construction. Not so exciting. Next was the Uffizi with all its art from the Renaissance and going forward. Seeing advancement in painting techniques over the years. I didn't find the Rick Steeves app helpful in the Museum because the paintings moved from the rooms of the recording, making it difficult to follow. It was nice to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus. On completion of that Museum, we met up, and the guys went to the Museum of Galileo, the girls searching for the Leather School. Both enjoyed the separation. Before leaving we had to have gelato and visit the Ponta Vecchio Bridge. This is the jewelry mecca of Florence. It's a version of Venice's Rialto Bridge. Our stroll back to the train station was a crowded one but we heard a busker singing opera in the street. I could have sat down with a glass of wine and listened to him all night. Talk about wine, we have had our eyes on the lookout for a wine window. It would have been a disappointment if we had not found one. We did but it was closed, thank goodness someone pointed out the one down the street. We just had to stop as it was an Italy bucket list item. We enjoyed a Valpolicella on the side of the road trying to avoid getting hit by a car or bike. Once finished we rushed to the train station missing the train by minutes. We sat outside in the cool air watching people struggle with their luggage up and down the stairs. What was to be an hour-and-a-half train trip turned into a 3-hour tour. Once on the train, we ended up with an emergency delay due to the previous train. All of us were falling asleep on the train hoping to crash soon at home. Unfortunately for Bernie's car that was not the case. They had a close encounter with a head-on bus, and getting out of the train station. Bernie was fried on arrival at home. We all had the intention of going to bed due to the exhaustion but no we downed a bottle of limoncello for hs sedation. Goodnight!!!Read more