Mike and I woke up early to tour the Doges Palace (home to the elected leaders of the former Venetian Republic) before hopping on the 11:43 train to Florence, and I have to say, it was well worth it!
The Doges Palace houses the worlds largest oil painting, stretching 27 meters across one whole wall.
The palace ceilings are covered in bright coloured frescoes that are framed by hand carved guilded frames. They are truly beautiful, unlike anything I have ever seen.
We also toured the dungeons in the basement. Many of the cells had the prisoners names (self carved) into the stone. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures, so to see it, you will have to travel to Venice yourself!
The train ride from Venice to Florence gave us a chance to sit back and enjoy the rolling hills of Tuscany. We met a family Michael (17), Colin (13) from Utah, and their grandmother from Finland. They have been doing a whirlwind tour of Europe.
Michael, Colin, Becky and Mike
We felt like we were truly experiencing the countryside, as the air conditioning in our train car was broken, and the temperature hit 32 degrees celcius, although we got some relief when we used the washroom in the car next to us!
The good news is, when we reached Florence, we felt cool, because the outside air temperature was only 29!
We took a cab to our hotel, dumped our bags, and proceeded to walk the streets, check out Del Signora square and the Ponto Vecchia. Becky found a pair of gladiator sandals (the real reason she traveled to Italy)!
Arno River, Firenze
The Duomo
Starving Artist
Dinner was at a great restaurant with delicious salads and assorted pasta dishes, and then home to bed to rest our weary feet.
dinner in Firenze
