Florence has been pretty cool.

The Duomo is ridiculously large. It overwhelms the entire city with its size. Today, we attempted to climb to the top. At 287 steps were were told we were half way. I’m afraid I have to report that we gave up. And down the stairs we went…

Still, it is an impressive structure and when you consider the dome is the first of its kind, built 600+ years ago, you realize that Florence isn’t all about art. The renaissance era ushered in all new ways of seeing our world (science) as well.

The Baptistry that is just outside the Duomo is equally impressive. It is much smaller, of course, but the interior is where the story is told. The very high dome is a collection of gold mosaics that tell several stories from the Bible. Imagine the panels of a Sunday comic. Now, replace the panels of Snoopy or Dagwood with gold mosaics telling the story of Moses or Joseph or Jacob. Very impressive. In this baptistry, Dante was baptized. Yes, that Dante – the writer of the “Divine Comedy”. When you consider he authored this piece of literary history in the 14th century, you get an idea of how old the area is we are visiting.

The biggest highlight of the day was our visit to see Michelangelo’s “David”. Yes, the original statue/carving. It is impressive. To stand there and see a status of David, with stone in hand, and sling over his shoulder, I can’t help but think of one of my favorite exchanges in the Bible. As Goliath continues to taunt the Israelis, David responds (my paraphrase), “you come at me with armor and sword, but I come with the mighty right hand of God.” We know how it turns out. David is the man!

Florence is one giant shopping mall, with mostly high end ‘stuff’ – leather, jewelery, clothing and shoes. NOTHING is cheap – this is high end stuff. Brietling watches, sparkling diamonds and high class leather. But, the cool part is this, as you window shop and walk, you come across building after building, piazzas after piazzas that give you a new view with each turn.

We had a simple dinner and are now packing as we head south tomorrow, to Sorrento.