Firenze (Florence), Italy....May 31st

I have a habit of having to run to catch trains.....and for my Florence trip, this was no exception. Waking up late, I grabbed my two bags and RAN for it!!!! I met the girls at the train station and prepared for the seven hour journey. I didn't have enough time to do my make-up before leaving, so I did so on the train....only to be watched by an Aussie couple...ha ha the wife was amazed! Once in Florence, Lacey, McKenzie and I split from Kristi and Jessica to find our hostel. We ended up having to carry all our bags with us for about 3 hours. However, we did find some pretty cool Italian markets on our way to the meeting point. After meeting the other two, we got.......GELATO!

Me with Lacey and Kristi....after chasing the pigeons!

Mmmmm!

After eating our ice cream, we walked around the town square and saw all of the statues. We were staring at this one asking each other "What the....?" when a man came up and said "Perseus is holding Medusa's head" and walked away. It was a little strange...but informative.

Another square in Florence.

After trying to get into the Uffizi, and being told that the wait was until Sunday, we headed for The Baptistry. It has the most beautiful tiles on the ceiling...all layed out to show biblical scenes. I managed to get really close with my video recorder!

The Baptistry...(on the right)

Inside. No flash allowed.

Buried here: Antipope John XXIII.

Trying to get close!

The ceiling. All tiles!!!!

The Bronze doors....called "The gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Believed to have started the Renaissance.

After checking out The Baptistry, we headed to a Restaurant for......ITALLIAN PIZZA!!!!

Definitely not overrated!

So fine! Haha.

After dinner, we headed to the Ponte Vecchio to experience my first Tuscany sunset!