Duomo - First Visit

     Woke early this morning to meet our tour guide in front of the Accademia at 9:00.  Turns out she was told to meet us at 10 - but we sat a while at the entrance and were relieved (well, some of us were) when Sabina came to get us at 10.
 
    Our entrance to the Accademia timed tickets were not until 12 so we walked down to the Duomo and went in.  Lovely church with the fresco of Dante's version of Hell on the ceiling.  We could only see half from where you stand in the church (there is no access to the back part of the church - the backside of the dome was not visible.   We did check out the "basement" which were the remains of a 4th century Christian church built on top of the ruins of a Roman palace (with mosaic floors). That was pretty cool. 

      Across the way from the church was the Battistero with the bronze chapel doors.  di Vinci and others were baptized here.
    We made our way back to the Accademia and went in.  Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the art to the point where the kids were disinterested (as were some adults).  When we finally found the David statue, he was enormous with gigantic hands.  3m high holding a sling.  There are some pretty large cracks down his back that make me glad we saw him like he is now.  It seems there may be potential that he will crack further.
      From the Accademia we walked down to the Old Palace with a stop at a small hole in the wall church where women leave letters in a basket at the tomb of Dante's lover.  A little weird, I think.  Dante was not allowed to marry her because he was betrothed to another.  Maybe that's why the guy was so dark.
     On to the bridge Ponte Vecchio which we looked at from afar while we said goodbye to our guide. All of us were starving and we headed on down the street away from the crowds and found a restaurant where the 8 remaining could have lunch.  We ordered beers on tap and the lady brought us 9E beers that were like fishbowls.  They were yummy!

     We walked home from lunch and rested a bit in the rooms before we headed out for dinner at Perseus.  There we were recommended to order family style with several sides. They sent out a ridiculous amount of almost raw meat.  I tried a few bites off my sweet sister Tracy's plate but a few bites was all I could handle.
    On the walk back to our hotel, we walked through a park (Piazza della Liberta) that had some remnants of the original medieval wall around Florence.  There were several children there playing and I heard them speaking Spanish to one another.  I called Meghan over and she started talking to them.  The children were a little shocked and one of them ran over to get their caretakers.  The women were from Columbia and Quito and were gracious and kind.  They gave Meghan their paper from their program and told her to contact them.
   Great day! I am excited about climbing the Duomo and seeing the other side of the fresco tomorrow.