The cradle and heart of the Renaissance

Florence Duomo is probably one of the more famous land marks of Florence.It is a typical example of Italian Gothic architecture
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Culture week in Italy rocks!!!! Most museums and historic sites were free and the crowds....well this is Florence (or Venice or Rome or Naples) so there are more tourists than locals.

"The god who created the hills around Florence was an artist. No! He was a jeweler, engraver, sculptor, bronze founder and a painter: He was a Florentine." - Anatole France

The god who created the hills around Florence was an artist. No! He was a jeweler, engraver, sculptor, bronze founder and a painter: He was a Florentine." - Anatole France

Piazza around the Duomo
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Florence is like walking into an historical movie scene or a large museum. It was ruled for over three centuries by the powerful  Medicis who created the city of cultural richness with their wealth and passion.

One of Florence's greatest draw is probably Michelangelo's David in the Galleria dell' Accademia. I have to say he looks just like all those pictures you have seen. Whoever said you can judge a man's "endowment" by the size of his hands obviously did not see David. Enormous hands and well the rest as they say is history. On a more serious note though, he is a lot more impressive life and bigger than I had imagined him to be.

Close up of the Duomo
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One of the coolest things we saw were the Medici Chapels, one of Michelangelo's first architectural projects. They were designed to hold the remains of the heads of the clan, the main person being Lorenzo the Magnificent the ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. He was the most accomplished of rulers. Unfortunately no photos allowed so you will just have to visit it yourselves!

We saw lots of Florence's best cultural sights.  However what I will remember most is 1)the sea of tourists, so many of who were Americans - it really is true that at times you hear more English than Italian and 2)the imitation designer shades, bags and belts for sale.... right next to the big red poster warning visitors about buying imitation stuff, prosecutable by law. Good luck!!!! It is pretty amazing I could right now have a Louis Vuitton wallet, Prada bag, Dolce&Gabbana belt with Christian Dior shades for probably less than 30 euros.  The polizei don't seem to care too much about stopping that. They make a half hearted effort to chase the vendors who are ready to run with their goods but other than that not much else is happening. I hear LV has an anti-counterfeit department.... looks like they need a new VP.