Firenze

We arrived in Florence ("Firenze" in the native tongue) after a lovely scenic train ride from Rome. I was so excited to see this particular city. Ever since I was little, my little sister, Melinda, and I would watch "While You Were Sleeping" and we would long to go to Florence. So, this was a dream come true! Unfortunately, it rained almost the entire time we were there, which did put a damper (hehehe-I'm so funny) on the sights. Also, Florence was pretty touristy, and they were more than willing to charge for pretty much anything just for the heck of it.

But, it was still a beautiful city full of wonderful architecture and historic artwork. We spent most of our time wandering the city and taking it all in. We went to the Duomo (a well-known cathedral/tower that Jared was particularly excited to see). We also went to the Uffizi and after spending hours in line waiting to get in (we refused to pay extra for "reservations" and so they made us stand in line longer), we were able to see much of the artwork that Florence is so famous for. Also, while we were standing in line, we met a missionary couple and chatted with them for a while. They were living in Pisa, but were visiting Florence for a little sight-seeing. We also went to an opera here in Firenze. We saw a small production of "Rigaletto" that was quite good, but kinda depressing.

We also enjoyed much more delicioso Italian food and gelato (we had the BEST pizza ever here). What more could we really ask for, right? :) Mostly, it was fun to just wander the streets (especially along the River) and "window shop" at the markets that were literally at every piazza. Florence really was a beautiful city.
This is a singing group that was one of many taking turns performing at one particular piazza. They actually weren't very good, but they were the spiffiest dressed.
Here I am with the fake "David". This is where the original was displayed before they decided to move him to a museum and charge to see him. Now they have a replica in his place.
This is Jared and his turtle. He was obsessed with this thing! We were wandering around, killing time before our show started, and he discovered this and played around on it FOREVER!
This is a picture of the Arno River at night. I thought it was really cool how still the water was, and the reflection of the buildings made it look almost like glass.

Here is the tower of the Duomo. You could pay to climb to the top, but we didn't think it was worth it.

This is the Duomo (the baptistry, cathedral, and tower). You had to pay to go into each of these buildings, so we only went inside the cathedral (stickin' it to the man and all). But the outside design is pretty cool.
This is inside the Duomo Cathedral dome. The artwork was so intricate, you could've stared up at it for hours.
This is inside the little church where "Rigaletto" was performed. It was really pretty, and the opera was fun. Also, all the proceeds went to a foundation to build schools (I think) in Africa.
Here I am posing in front of a street sign (you can't read it, but it says Via Pellicceria). We're pretty sure it means something to the effect "Barbershop street". Jared thought it was pretty cool, and had to take my picture. Don't mind the underwear models in the window :)
And this is another view of the Arno. I just really liked the buildings here. They were so quaint, especially along the river.