Today, Vance was almost killed by an egg. Well not really, but the soft boiled egg was not quite cooked enough and it was cooked (open) in the microwave. When Vance went to eat it it exploded and sprayed egg allover the kitchen. I kind of wish we had a video camera going, Vance must have jumped 2 feet in the air!

After breakfast we headed out to our first tour of Florence. It was a 3 hour renaissance walking tour of the city. We learned about the copy of David, the different families that ruled Florence over the years. It was amazing to see buildings that were built in the 12 century still standing and being used for stores and residence today.

Our tour ended in the Duomo. This building was started in 1296 and finished in 1436. It is known for it’s dome which was designed and constructed by Filippo Brunelleschi, this was the first of its kind, as self supporting structure. The Duomo is quite the impressive structure. A dome within a dome, and you can walk to the top of it, all 467 stairs. We did not do it.

After our tour we headed across the Ponte Vecchio and headed up to the Pitti Palace. We polked around the area outside for a while and decide that we were just not up to going into it today. A visit to the Bobili gardens will have to be something to put on my next visit to Florence.

Cathy and I headed back to the apartment and Vance and Vangie went on to do some further exploring.

For dinner that night we went to the local restaurant that was very close to our apartment and we were blown away by the food. Some of the best we have had in Italy so far. We will be coming back to here for sure.