Italy 4-6: Tub of Doom and Oh (comma) My God!

For the next few days we were in Florence. First off, our hotel (Hotel Maxim) was in an incredible location. About 15 minute walk to the train station and about two minutes from the Duomo and Piazza Signora. All four of us shared one room. And in that room was....dum dum dum.....THE TUB OF DOOOOOOMMMMMM!!! Beware all ye who enter! It was this crazy tub that sloped so at the drain you could barely stand with your feet together, and then it sloped up almost like a step. A step that was very slippery when wet. We really thought someone was going to hurt themselves, and Annette did fall once. It was an adventure. If you look closely at the picture you can see how the towel is laying on the slope and how the light shines off of it.


Florence is by far my favorite city. It's small, easy to walk around and see everything. It's beautiful. I would take Florence over Rome any day. The main things in Florence are the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, the Ufizzi (huge museum), Medici Chapel (chapel covered in marble...very beautiful but some of it was under repair), the Academy (with Michelangelo's David), Piazza Signora, and a ton of little churches. The main church is called the Duomo instead of Chiesa because it has a dome. Other churches were just Chiesa di..... We got some amazing photos of it at night. Mike's tripod really came in handy here. The marble glowed in the night...so striking. The last picture is a POSTCARD! Mike took a picture of it with his camera. Sneaky devil.
Check out the people sitting at the stairs. It gives you a sense of scale with the Duomo. It's just huge.





This is the Ponte Vecchio (literally translated as Old Bridge). During WWII a German commander couldn't bring himself to blow it up so he just demolished everything around it. It's lined with gold and jewelry shops. At night instead of using ugly metal grates they protect their closed shops with these beautiful wood doors. They were probably hundreds of years old. We took this picture using the tripod and standing still. You can see the outlines of people that were walking by.



Here are some pictures of the city. The Ufizzi and Palazzo Vecchio are museums, but all the religious art starts to get repetitive. How many times can you see Mary holding baby Jesus? Or the crucifiction? But, it was nice just to appreciate the skill and the artistry.



While walking around the city we came across this window display. It just stopped me in my tracks and I said "Oh comma My God!". I had to get pictures of it. I don't know why they thought this would make people want to buy their clothes, but there it is. Enjoy.