While staying in Lucca, we made a day trip to Florence (Firenze in Italian). We caught a regional train at Lucca Centrale station, and in a bit over an hour we were at Florence's Santa Maria Novella station.
We had been to Florence in 2018, and Deb and Kenny had also been a couple of other times, so Kenny went to visit a military museum, Deb went to the market, and Ruth and I went to the Uffizi Gallery.
Some portions were under renovation, so everyone was directed up the stairs to the top floor, where we browsed galleries of statuary and paintings, then down to the next floor, and finally out. It was quite interesting, with busts of emperors and others from as far back as Bible times, and up through the times of the Medici. There are also wonderful ceilings with intricate designs. We were also pleasantly surprised to see portraits of Martin Luther with his wife, and with his associate Philip Melancthon.
From the Uffizi we walked to the Duomo (Cathedral), where we met up with Deb, and visited the Baptistry, with its incredibly ornate ceiling. The Baptistry is the smaller dome at the left of the top photo on this page.
We stopped for a bite of lunch at a sandwich shop near the Duomo.
After lunch we went to the Duomo museum, where the actual doors to the Baptistry are displayed (the current doors are replicas), and where the history of the Duomo is on display.
We caught up with Kenny and walked along the Arno River, to the Ponte Vecchio, where we crossed the river.
Then we hiked up the hills beyond to a park where we could look back over the city.
Walking down the hill, we made our way to the Basilica di Santa Croce.
Inside the church there are memorials to many well-known people throughout the ages.
It was a long day of walking. We made our way back through town to a restaurant that Deb and Kenny had visited previously, and had a magnificent meal, then found the train station and returned to Lucca.
Credits:
All photos and text copyright © 2022 Scott Thomas. All rights reserved.