Last Day in Italy

For our last day in Florence, we had one major attraction that we couldn't miss, the Uffizi Gallery






Madonna and Child, Filippo Lippi



Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli



Calumny of Apelles, Sandro Botticelli (one of his darker paintings, reflecting the turmoil going on as Savonorola gained power in Florence and Botticelli become conflicted about making art)



Tribuna (a room you weren't allowed to enter, only observe from the three doorways.)











Laocoon and His Sons, by Baccio Bandinelli (replica from the Hellenistic original).



We nearly pooped out before we were done at the Uffizi, but happily discovered we could get lunch on the roof deck, right under the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio.



After lunch our last stop was the Medici Chapels.









Michelangelo designed the New Sacristy within the Medici Chapels, so we had one more chance to see some of his work.



Seeing his sketches on the wall was awe inspiring!



After seeing the Medici Chapels, it was gelato o'clock, so we took the chance to get our last Italian gelato with a view of the Duomo.



And then one last time through the Piazza della Signoria.



(replica of David)






Saturday morning it was time to head to the train station, but we did have time to see the sun come up over the Arno.





The high speed train to Rome from Florence was impressively fast. An hour and a half, no stops and we were in Rome for our flight home!



It was such an unforgettable trip, I feel so grateful that we were able to do it! But it was also so nice to get back home to the kids, and bore them with tales of all our adventures!