Italy - Day 11 (Florence)

Our day began with a trip the Central Market, located only 1 block away from our hotel. It was pretty early, so many of the stalls weren't open yet. I like this stand for its interesting food. Look...a whole, raw loin wrapped in a baguette, topped with bacon and rosemary! And what is that next to it? I needed to Google it when I got home. Fegatelli, I now know, is pork liver. Yummm....
We then met our local guide, Simone, for a long walk through Florence.The first stop was at Piazza della Signoria, a large square in the center of Florence. The square is filled with statues of notable Renaissance artists and surrounded by the Palazzo Vecchio (the city hall) and the Uffizi Gallery (which we'd visit the following day).

Palazzo Vecchio....Under all the scaffolding is a replica of Michelangelo's David. The real one stood in this same spot over 300 years until it moved indoors for safer keeping....One of many violent sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria...
A beautiful street market pedalling the typical Florentine wares: leather goods and wool scarves....The second stop of our walk was the Palazzo Davanzati, a former home of a wealthy merchant in the Renaissance period. This place gave a good glimpse of the struggles of life in that time. Highlighting one of the struggles were the holes in the ceiling above the entryway, which made it possible to attack intruders.... We crossed the Arno River via the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge famous for being lined with jewelry shops. The Oltrarno, literally meaning "across the Arno", is the more residential and quieter side of Florence . The gift shops from the main part of town are replaced with small, not-for-tourist artisan workshops where people are still hand-carving wood furniture and making chandeliers. Due to time constraints, we chose to skip the largest sight in this area: the Palazzo Pitti, former home of the Medici family. Instead, we just strolled the streets until we met up with our regular tour guide, Cecilia, near San Spirito Church. There she surprised us with canoles! ...and we're told they were as authentic as they come because they were made by Sicilians!After canoles, the tour group disbanded, and Brooke and I headed back to the Florence Duomo. We climbed the 375-ft tall dome for great views of the city....For a majority of our climb, we zig-zagged up staircases in relative darkness. At the midway point, we got a break from climbing as the path led us to a vantage point giving great views of the cathedral below and an up-close view of the paintings above.....Views from the Duomo dome.....The Gates of Paradise, bastistery doors by Ghiberti....The main doors of the duomo....
Interior of the duomo....The painted ceiling of the dome.....At the San Lorenzo street market, Brooke considered buying a leather purse, but with prices ranging anywhere from 20 to over 200 Euros, we couldn't be sure of the quality. She passed on buying a purse, but got a nice cashmere/silk scarf for only 6 Euros. Our next stop was to San Lorenzo Basilica & Medici Chapel. Architecturally, the basilica and chapel are unexceptional, but the tombs by Michelangelo for the Medici family made the quick visit worthwhile. The security check at the entrance was intense; however, once inside we were allowed to get extremely close to all the statues. No photos were allowed, so I'm borrowing this photo from Britannica.com. This oddly masculine female nude is Michelangelo's Night made for Giuliano Medici's tomb....Knowing we couldn't make it to Napoli (the birthplace of pizza!), we got recommendations to a pizzeria run by Neapolitans, Il Pizzaiuola. The pizza was great! At about 8 Euros per pizza and 15 Euros for a bottle of wine, the price was right too! (if only they had a Hawaiian-style pizza. Pineapple...yumm)