Firenze

We arrived in Firenze (Florence) last night and are staying in a carpark in the north of the city. This morning we took the short bus ride into the centre. Immediately we got of the bus we were faced by a scruffy looking ticket tout, we side-stepped and pushed past him as we were not interested. Seconds later we were surrounded by 3-4 guys who didn't look very happy - it turned out (when they showed us their not very official looking badges) they were ticket inspectors!! Fortunately when I showed them our tickets (which I had managed to stamp despite the machine on the bus being reluctant) they backed off and let us scurry on our way - oops.... it has to be said though a scruffy jacket and jeans is hardly suitable uniform for an official.

Today we wandered around the city getting our bearings and then visited the Palazzo Pitti which is a palace come art gallery formerly owned by the Medici family.

The city with the Duomo taking centre stage

The stunning facade of the Duomo

The campanile of the Duomo

Detail of one of the doors of the baptistry - there are 10 panels on the two doors and apparently it took the artist 21 years to complete this work so they gave him the job of making another pair of doors for one of the other sides. Sounds like jobs for the boys.....