Duomo arigato

Monday was our first day without any structured plans. Originally we were supposed to have a tour in the morning, but after learning that some of the museums and monuments are closed on Mondays, we decided to reschedule for Tuesday.

We set out at about 11am, walked through Piazza Santa Maria Novella and walked to the east through some street merchants to the "Duomo" or Cathedral of Florence. The cathedral was built in the 13th - 15th centuries as a place of meeting as well as worship, then had a beautiful marble facade added in the 19th century. The Facade is made of white, green and pink marble and is stunningly intricate with hundreds of sculptures and adornments. The piazza has the cathedral, a bell tower, and the baptistery. The baptistery is an octagonal marble building but is adorned in a more medieval style with simple geometric patterns. This building is one of the oldest in Florence and is really relatively simple aside from its intricate doors which have sculpted panels.

Inside the cathedral is a vast amount of space. It was built with the ability to hold about 30 thousand people. It has high arched ceilings and large stained glass windows throughout but the highlight of the interior is the dome over the center. The dome is painted with a huge fresco. The painting is of the final judgment and has figures in heaven, during judgment and in hell. We decided that we wanted a closer look, so we headed around the cathedral to the entrance of the cupola.

Brunelleschi's cupola is visible from almost anywhere in Florence since it sits well above all of the buildings on the skyline. Unfortunately there is no lift to the top so you must trek up 463 stone steps to get there. The space is tight and I wouldn't recommend the hike if you are at all claustrophobic. The stairways are not wide enough for more than 1 person to pass at a time and there really isn't an awful lot of ventilation so it is rather stuffy. About half of the way up (seems like forever) you get access to the inside of the dome and can walk around where the base of the dome and the cathedral ceiling meet. Then you return to the cramped steps for the remainder of the trip until you reach the top. The view is stunning, with 360 degrees of the city and surrounding landscape. We remained at the top for about 15 minutes then began the descent. On the way down you get to walk around the inside of the dome, this time at the base of the fresco, it is amazing to see that each of the figures must be 15 feet tall, we stopped here for a while and let others pass so we could try and take in all of the painting. Eventually we made our way back down to the street.

We continued to walk around the city and came upon Dante Alighieri's house. The house is relatively hidden within some small side streets. It is well preserved and is now a museum to this famous poet. There is a bookstore as well. My favorite was the children's illustrated inferno - nice.

Eventually our wondering made us hungry for dinner. We settled down at a place called Il Cavollino with a view of Palazzo Vechio. I had wild boar with a tomato sauce which was awesome. After dinner and a cappuccino we strolled back to the hotel, getting some gelato along the way. All in all it was a nice relaxing day.