Hello from the Witte Woodward blogging team!  This Post will cover the one day visit to Florence, It where the Michelangelo "David" is located. You remember David and Goliath?   Well Michelangelo decided to make one out of one piece of marble.  It is truly to behold and is about 30 feet high.  He did this in the late 1400s and to this day no one has duplicated the beauty of this piece.  Florence is also the home to many other artisians - as well as cooks.  The train we rode in to Florence traveled at 150 mph - and was smooth as silk.  Too bad we cannot duplicate such efficiency in the US.

A corner of the Duomo and the Baptistry; one of Bill's artistic shots!  We started out here in the central square of Florence, after a stop for cappuccino and corneto at a little coffee bar.  Our tickets to see "The David" were not until noon, so we had time to get into the Duomo.

Another shot of the Duomo.  They are cleaning the stone on the sides, lots of scaffolding.

A close up of the fresco above the main  entrance to the Duomo.

More art above a door at the Duomo.

Another outside shot of the Duomo. It is a huge and very ornate building, designed by Brunelleschi after he'd seen the done of the Pantheon in Rome.

The beautiful doors of the Baptistry next to the Duomo.  Grace Cathedral in San Francisco has duplicates of these doors.

The main altar at the Duomo, which contains the largest collection of 13th century stained glass in Italy.  The windows are gorgeous and a small, educational model at the church explains the difficulty of restoration when there is breakage.

See what I mean?

This is the first Roman numeral clock we've seen in Italy.

 Here are some strange people we found in this church. 

 Then we found meringue to die for!!

 Here is the David - I was not allowed to take this picture, but did not know until informed as I came into the gallery.  So here it is with a few flaws. An amazing piece of work. 

Just outside was this modern remake of the original.  Probably erected to allow for pictures to be taken. And a few people were taking some questionable pictures of this one. The photographer in this picture is not shown as he is on the ground taking the picture looking up!  That's Bill's commentary.  I thought this was horrific and am convinced that David was not from Scandinavia!

Patty and Kathy posing with the Arno river behind, just after crossing the Ponte Vecchio.

This is the exterior of the Ponte Vecchio bridge. The interior is jewelry shop after jewelry shop, all specializing in 18 carat gold.

We stopped at the Savoy so Bill and Patty could have an iced cappuccino, which was served in a champagne glass.

Back to Rome and Mass on Sunday in St Peter's - Bacillica at the altar at St. Peter's chair.  I was surprised how few people were there, but perhaps it was the long line to get through security.

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 A side chapel in St Peters, where some kind of a special ceremony is taking place. No one was moving!

 The picture from the entry way to St Peters, with the large Black canopy in the middle, location of the burial of St Peter

The  baptismal font in St. Peter's where they were preparing for a baptism. It is a beautiful, purple marble, very difficult to carve, so imagine how long this took!

Patty and Kathy at the front of the church, backs toward the main altar.

Dinner at Osteria delle Copelle near the Pantheon.

Pasta ala carbonara (bacon and egg pasta, my favorite and Jerry's as well).

A tiny selection of flavors at a great Gelateria near the Pantheon.

Four Rivers Fountain at the Piazza Navona.  The rivers represent the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges  and surprisingly enough, the Rio de la Plata in Uruguay.

A different side of the fountain. No traffic in the Piazza, but millions of people!

This gives you a perspective on size and people!