May 2015 - Florence, Italy

The cathedral Il Duomo is absolutely magnificent and was a highlight of our time in Florence. The other church we went to was the Santa Croce basilica, which features tombs of some famous Italians.

Il Duomo of Florence		The belltower
Il Duomo of Florence		The belltower
Along the side of the cathedral	A wonder of art on a wonder of architecture: The interior of the cathedral dome.	The very top of the dome
Along the side of the cathedral	A wonder of art on a wonder of architecture: The interior of the cathedral dome.	The very top of the dome
Walking around the interior base of the dome	Climbing along the curvature of the dome to get to the top	Along the top of the dome
Walking around the interior base of the dome	Climbing along the curvature of the dome to get to the top	Along the top of the dome
The view from the top		The Santa Croce basilica rising above Florence
The view from the top		The Santa Croce basilica rising above Florence
	Inside the enormous yet sparsely decorated cathedral
	Inside the enormous yet sparsely decorated cathedral
An _awesome_ 24-hour clock	The inside of the dome from the floor of the cathedral	Climbing the belltower
An _awesome_ 24-hour clock	The inside of the dome from the floor of the cathedral	Climbing the belltower
The view from the belltower	The tall belltower is that of the Basilica Santo Spirito, next to which we stayed	The best view from the belltower is that of the dome itself, which is magnificent
The view from the belltower	The tall belltower is that of the Basilica Santo Spirito, next to which we stayed	The best view from the belltower is that of the dome itself, which is magnificent
	The very top of the dome	Not nearly ugly enough to be a great gargoyle
	The very top of the dome	Not nearly ugly enough to be a great gargoyle
A storm moves into Florence	The church becomes a shelter from the rain	These people _really_ don't like getting wet. The umbrellas look like the ones that we saw a lot of in Beijing.
A storm moves into Florence	The church becomes a shelter from the rain	These people _really_ don't like getting wet. The umbrellas look like the ones that we saw a lot of in Beijing.
Waiting out the storm in the belltower	A wet city	Across the street is the cathedral's baptistry
Waiting out the storm in the belltower	A wet city	Across the street is the cathedral's baptistry
	Even the baptistry has a beautiful dome	Admiring the dome
	Even the baptistry has a beautiful dome	Admiring the dome
All along the dome are Bible stories, done in mosaic	Also on the dome is probably the coolest depiction of hell that I've ever seen	The Santa Croce basilica
All along the dome are Bible stories, done in mosaic	Also on the dome is probably the coolest depiction of hell that I've ever seen	The Santa Croce basilica
Inside the basilica		The walls are lined with marble tombs
Inside the basilica		The walls are lined with marble tombs
The tomb of Galileo. Does this make up for what they did to him in life?	The tomb of Michelangelo	Dante
The tomb of Galileo. Does this make up for what they did to him in life?	The tomb of Michelangelo	Dante
Machiavelli	The most elegant of all the tombs
Machiavelli	The most elegant of all the tombs