Florence, Italy (22nd May 2012)

We woke up to a beautiful and sunny weather in Florence. Decided to visit the Duomo and Baptistery to get better shots.

Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore)

Duomo Exterior

These are the panels on one of the doors of the Baptistery; Scenes on the Gates of Paradise.

One of the doors of the Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni)

We paid 5 Euros each to enter the Baptistery...

The octagonal mosaic ceiling of the Baptistery

Tomb of Antipope John XXIII 

The interesting mosaic marble floor

One of the places we really look forward to is the San Lorenzo Market. Famous of leather goods and souvenirs, this place is definitely one place you wouldn't want to miss if you are in Florence.

San Lorenzo market

 There were so many stalls selling leather goods; wallets, bags, purses, belts, jackets, luggage...just to name a few. They came in many colours and designs too! The key is to bargain. We noticed that stalls which are further away from the entrance of the market offer better prices than those which are located near the entrance.

Spoilt for choice!

Lots of different kinds of souvenirs for you to choose...

Other souvenirs

It was noon time when we finally got what we wanted. After lunch (I will talk about food in my next post), we walked back to the hotel for siesta.

Around 4pm, we took a walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo.

Crossing the bridge...

Fontana della maternita (Fountain of Maternity) by Sauro Cavallini

Walking and puffing (sign of no stamina..haha) all the way up. The weather was just cooling and windy, thus we didn't sweat much.

On the way up..almost there..

The view from the top...see the Duomo?

Tourists at the square

The famous statue of David (in all his glory) by Michelangelo

A closer look of the Duomo

The Ponte Vecchio bridge and its surrounding

It was almost going to rain, and we didn't want to walk all the way down. Thank God we managed to catch a bus down. We stopped at the train station. Took a walk to the Santa Maria Novella church.  My cousin commented that this building look like a 2-D cut-out building.

Basilica Santa Maria Novella

By the time we walked back from the train station to where our hotel were, it was almost 7pm.

Florence food up next......