my husband, Rich arrived last Saturday, so I have been playing tour guide with him. We just went around the city on Sunday to give him an overview. Then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we bought a three day museum and sights pass. We found we could do about to museums a day. The good thing about the pass is that you can cut the long lines at many of the bigger, more famous exhibits. So Monday, we went to the Galleria dell' Accademia which is where the real David by Michelangelo is. It also had lots of religious art from 800-1300 ad. Our feet ached after we were done, so we had lunch and then went to a modern art exhibit "From Kandinsky to Pollock". RIch was an art major for his first college degree, so a lot of both these exhibits was a blast from the past and cool to see it all in person. I also included a picture of my front door from my home stay with Eleanora, and Rich's first day was May 1. We happened upon an event in the main piazza of the traditional community bands. They had the band and then marchers and banner people. It was beautiful. There is also a random picture of a wall that has been bricked up with flowers growing out of it.
Tuesday, we climbed 63 flights of stairs or 896 stairs to two tours of the duomo. The first time we went up to the top of the cupola on the dome of the duomo (482 steps). The cupola is an amazing engineering feat and really appealed to the civil engineer in Rich. The second climb was up 412 steps of the bell tower or campanile. Both climbs are not for those who fear small spaces or heights because they are very narrow stairs with lots of people. Here are some view from the tops and also of the climb up. I think I posted some pictures previously of the campanile.