First day in Florence

I enjoyed the sound of birds singing and the view from my hotel window the next morning when the church bells woke me up at 7 a.m. I didn't enjoy the hotel breakfast so much (no fruit? not even in yogurt?) but of course it was better than nothing. After breakfast I headed out for the walking tour I had planned. I guess that morning I saw the outside of all the main "tourist" places in Florence:

The Duomo

and Giatto's Tower,

the Baptistery with its famous bronze doors, the Medici-Riccardi palace, the San Lorenzo market, lots of shops along Via de Calzaiuoli (at one of which I took this photo of cute little glass figurines as inspiration for Chris, and also to show him that he needs to be charging more for his work!),

the Orsanmichele church,

Piazza della Signoria,

the Palazzo Vecchio and its interior courtyard, the Loggia, with its bizarre collection of statues, which I thought did not work well as an ensemble, but here is a picture of the one that might be my favorite:the courtyard of the Uffizi,

the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio. I really didn't go inside anywhere since I only had a few hours before my train, but I took lots of pictures and got a good preview of everything I would be returning to see the following weekend. I also had my first gelato in Florence! I even ordered it in Italian (although I can't guarantee I did it right): "Uno cono piccolo con caffè." Yum!