Last hurrah in Firenze!

Yesterday was another action-packed day! I started off with a walk to Piazzale Michaelangelo for beautiful views of Florence while Damon took a break in the room. Then we met up for a tour of the Palazzo Vecchio's Secret Passages. The Medici family loved their art and hidden doors, windows, and treasure stashes!

Early morning view of the Arno River

Good morning!

Fishing in the Arno River

Another view of the fishermen

Piazzele Michaelangelo

View of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo

Courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio

Inside one of the Medici's private rooms that had secret compartments behind some of the artwork.

Intricate ceiling

The great room in the Palazzo Vecchio

Because we were on a special tour, we got to see the attic of the Palazzo Vecchio. They used a special system to change out the ceiling of the large room shown above. It was pretty incredible!

Ceiling mechanism

Fancy furniture

Old maps, so cool!

In the afternoon we hopped a train out to Lucca, which is such a cute town. We grabbed a snack of tagliate mixta (salami, prosciutto, cheese, and olives). One of Lucca's main attractions is the medieval city walls that have a walking/bike path on top. We rented bikes and did 2 laps around in an hour with breaks to explore the bastions and take pictures. It was a nice break from city sightseeing! 

Snack time in Lucca!

Bike ridin'

Checking out ruins on the city walls

Climbing on the city walls

More city walls

Riding on the city walls was so peaceful

Beautiful afternoon!

Coming back through town, which had gotten quite busy with pedestrian traffic so we had to walk the bikes.

Afternoon socializing in Lucca

This morning we dove right into the day by being nearly first in line to climb the Duomo's dome. It's 463 stairs to the top, and not for those that dislike cramped quarters or heights! Seeing the dome from the inside was amazing and so was the view from the top!

Duomo's dome

The paintings on the inside of the dome don't hold back!

Passageway inside the dome

Steep stairs, short ceilings ... claustrophobics beware!

These stairs near the top of the dome were really steep!

We made it!

Looking down on Florence at our hotel room

I got my morning workout!

Damon and views of Florence

We have a few hours to grab a coffee and walk around until we catch the bus to our agriturismo in Greve in Chianti. We think we will love it there and the weather is supposed to be beautiful and still plenty warm enough to take advantage of their pool!