ITALY!!! The Final Countdown!

Sunday, June 3rd, Florence, Italy
We got off the cruise back in Rome and smashed ourselves into a van (also called "limousines" in Italy) for 3 hours as we drove to Florence.

We only had Sunday afternoon in Florence, so we weren't able to see much, but there was, of course, the normal...giant cement balls?

 

...and we did see the 4th largest Cathedral in Europe, Duomo...

Inside, there was this giant, 24 hour clock, dating back to the early 1400s. At that time, the 24 hr day began/ended at sunset...which meant that the time had to be regularly adjusted to accommodate the changing length of sunlight in a day. This is one of the few clocks from that era which is still in working order. 

 The church is shaped like a cross, the head of the cross having a painted dome. The church became operational before it was complete, so they simply sectioned off the dome portion until it was completed.

There was also a little crypt in the basement, but you really can't see much of that portion, especially since it also houses the over-crowded gift shop.

...We were also fortunate enough to see Michelangelo's David, in the Museum of Archaeology.


This picture is actually of a copy, there were no cameras allowed in the Museum. I did find it interesting, though, that they had hooked "David" up to a bunch of fiber optic wires, which were tracking the changes in tilt (for instance, in case of earthquakes), and also changes in the cracks that have begun to form in the sculptures.
...One of the best restaurants we ate at was in Florence. Apparently, the further north you go, the better the food...

...And we stopped for pictures on a beautiful bridge!

   

Monday, June 4th, Venice, Italy

There are some things to do and see it Venice, but I was told by multiple people that the beauty of Venice is simply walking around, and that every corner in Venice is beautiful. So, walking around is just what we did! It rained on us a good portion of the day (apparently, that is pretty common in Venice), but it was still gorgeous!

Train ride up:

  

 

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink! Back in the day, there was no clean water for Veniceans  to drink, so they made all these holes in the sidewalk in open squares, throughout the city, that would run into a cistern.

  

 There are no cars or scooters in Venice...I didn't even see bikes. You walk or you take a boat. So the walkways between buildings are, sometimes, extremely narrow!

Tuesday, June 5th, Pompeii, Italy
Tuesday morning, we hopped on a train and went all the way from Florence to Naples, then hopped on a tram from there to Pompeii.

The tram was super crowded:

  

 Ruins of Pompeii:

It was a lot that we packed in to those two weeks, and there was SOOO much more to see! But we were DEFINITELY ready to come home and see our sweet, little ones again!