early arrival in this Tuscan town... 7:15 Sunday no one would be awake in the states, although i have noticed that no town in europe seems to wake up as early as american cities... so it goes. i like waking up oddly early. wonderful sunny warm (10 degrees? C) breezes and charming, just as you imagined it streets. deefinately grittier and deliberately older the switzerland or paris. a little fake is the instant reaction to seeing something like that, but the slight decay was probably real. narrow streets hooked up frequently with normal car-roads. tuscan oranges and golds all over. found the hotel with very little difficulty, wonderful booking service. wandered a little into the main, chanced upon the medici chapel without realizing it, sat and watched the vendors crawl casually into the square and set up their booths. I ran just down the street to catch the first glimpse of the tempting duomo, and back within 5 minutes... wandering, found ourselves some 3 foot alleys to squeeze into from the unexpectedly open gate (i pushed it open with my chin while gaping). sat in on part of a mass in the duomo to get in before the opening... uninspiring interior (besides a unsuitably realistic and gory painting of hell to heaven clinging to the dome), outrageously plain after the eye-dazzle puzzle of white, pink, and green marble wrapping the entire facade. sigh - it was a very huge church to expect to be decorated all over.
wandered down to the river, ponte vecchio, and up the hill for fabled views over florence. very touristy, even in the morning, but lovely spots of quiet greenery winding up the hill. plazzo michelangelo, worth a stop for this view, not for the replica marble scupltures in streaked green bronze, then further up... i was happy to have a guidebook for florence, there would have been a lot to miss without one. guidebook takes its place of pride in the corner of the picture....
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