Back to Firenze

Just a quick note to say we made it to Florence. We spent the morning in Rome (well, Vatican City) at the Vatican Museum. We were hearded like cattle through miles (not an exageration - it's 4 miles) of statuary, religious artifacts, tapestry, and paintings to get to the real reason for the visit - the Sistine Chapel. Ok here I am being a little obtuse. The walk there is actually quite wonderful. Lots of interesting pieces mixed in with some boring ones. :)

The chapel was absolutely beautiful. I think I appreciated it a bit more this time, post art history class. To think all of the work was done in fresco by someone who didn't consider himself a painter. Clearly his view of himself was skewed. Not unlike many artists today.

After checking into our very cute Florence hotel (Hotel Pendini), Sara and I headed over to the Duomo. It's about a 3 minute walk. I was struck by the magnificence of the building. I don't think I took it in last time. I was so busy hurrying thru, anxious to pass Melissa's sweater off to the next traveler (we weren't dress code appropriate in our tank tops - no dress code worries this time, it's 40 degrees).

Tomorrow we may visit David. Or we may head to Sienna. So many possibilities!