Legally Blonde's Proceedings

I woke up on New Year's Day and set out through the fairly vacant streets of Florence.  While pretty much everything was closed for the day, my goal was to walk around and take time to ooh and ah over the architecture, and take in some sweeping views of Firenze.  First stop was the Piazza del Duomo... This is a view of the Baptistry The Duomo I arrived right in time for some morning bells... After walking around the Duomo and giving it it's due of admiration, I headed down toward the river.  This sweet shop's pretty windows caught my attention... Just look at those marzipan cherries! Panforte selections on display... Piazza della Repubblica... Palazzo Vecchio and the Town Hall of the Medici... Until 1873, Michelangelo's David  stood where this replica stands today. I've read people's take on their trip to Florence where they felt like seeing the replica was a good substitute for seeing the real thing.

On New Year's Eve, I took an 11 hour tour out to Tuscany.  The tour made stops in San Gimignano, Siena, a winery in Chianti, and Greve.  First stop was San Gimignano.  SG is a small medieval walled town famous for it's 14 still standing towers (It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  As with most tours, you end up wishing you had more time at some stops and less time at others.  SG was definitely a stop where I wished I'd have had more time. This is the main street in town.  All of our time in SG was self-guided, and they encouraged us to stay on the main street due to the short time there. I saw this little off-shoot though and there was a sign indicating a scenic overlook, so I detoured. The sun wasn't at a great angle for photos, but I was glad for my detour... The scenery was beautiful Piazza della Cisterna is the main plaza in town...  We were there before some stores/restaurants had opened, and some were just completely closed