Florence - Day 18 Wednesday 9/18

This is our third trip to Florence, and we have never been inside the Duomo. Why? The lines...all the time, early, late, a seemingly endless line of people encircling this beautiful church, and we never wanted to spend our precious time in the line. So, today, we put on our WDW game faces (now, there's the place where you learn to endure lines), and decided that we would make it happen. The Duomo opens at 10 AM (seriously?) and closes at 4:30 AM. These are better than banker's hours. So, we were in line at 9:30 AM, about a third of the way around the church, figuring that when the doors opened, they immediately would let at least 100-150 people inside (have you seen the size of this place?), and we would be inside in no time. Somewhere, this logic was flawed. I think they let in groups of 20 people at a time, and we rattled around inside.

I took a few photos while we stood in line, distracting myself with the beauty of this city. Nearby buildings....

...the Baptistry across the Piazza....

Wait! 80 minutes in...we are in sight of the door...

Why are the angels flanking the doorways so sad? Are they channeling the agitation of the hot tourists?

And, then, after 90 minutes, we were inside this cavernous church! And I felt impelled to take a photo of EVERY attractive thing that I saw. There is a lot of empty space, and a lot of roped off areas....quite the contrast from Siena. There was a private Mass in English in a side chapel.

And, just in case you might forget who paid for all this...

The scenes on the cupola were interesting...

But, 15 minutes is about all you need to do this justice.

By the way, if I ever start a tour company, this is what my clients are wearing...

We went to the Central Market after our morning at the Duomo.

We rewarded ourselves with pizza for lunch. No, we did not intentionally wear matching colors...we have limited clean laundry options.

After lunch, we walked to Piazza Santa Maria Novella and viewed the exterior of the Church. We are officially "churched out."

Our final stop was the Farmacia de Santa Maria Novella, a gorgeous shop that has been selling soaps, lotions, and perfumes for centuries.

Charlie wanted a nap, so we came back to rest and pack up, as we head to Rome tomorrow. After all that pizza, we went out for gelato and called it dinner!

Photos are tagged Florence and Italy