Firenze in the Rain

Before we left for our trip, of course we checked the weather report, and thankfully we were prepared for the rain. And, oh, did it rain!

It was a Sunday, so a number of places were closed, but we forged ahead despite all of this. Our first stop was the Piazza Republica and the famous boar. His nose is rubbed clean from everyone making wishes on it.

 We were heading towards the Uffizi Gallery, so we stopped for a few minutes under the covered walkway to take photos in front of the Ponte Vecchio.

 Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside of the Uffizi gallery, but we did take a last-minute guided tour that I swear I would have been completely lost without! "The Birth of Venus" by Donatello was probably the most well-known piece of artwork we saw on our tour, but there were a few more recognizable pieces in the collection.

After our gallery tour, we walked over to the Santa Croce church and the Florence Leather School. The school is located in the old monastery of the church, so despite being in such a well-known location, the entrance was hard to find.

 We ended up making plans to come back the next day to buy our gifts, but we  still had a good time trying to find everything in the rain. We were going to head back toward the Ponte Vechhio to look at the famous gold shops, but I had to have Tim take a picture of the rainfall.

 While I was standing there waiting for Tim to take the picture, I looked over and lo-and-behold, there was the Galileo Museum! The sign on the door said it was closed on Sunday, but when I got a little closer, the automatic door opened right up. I peered inside and someone was sitting at the ticket desk, so we went in! It was pretty empty, but was one of our favorite museums of the whole trip.

 AND when we finished up in there, the weather had cleared up!!

 Along the walkways around the Ponte Vecchio, couples have been hanging locks to celebrate their relationship/marriage. I think it is just so cool and was a little sad we didn't have a lock to hang. Maybe one day? (::hint:: Timmy - Return trip??? ::hint::)

 We browsed the gold shops along the bridge for a little bit, and then I asked Tim if we could head back to the hotel and dry off a little. Along the way, we stopped at Piazza Signoria, where the Uffizi Gallery has set up an outside sculpture museum.

 We headed back to the hotel and Tim spotted this sign and had to take a picture...

 As we were passing the Duomo, I heard Tim call out "Arianna WAIT! There's a rainbow!" And he was right, there was a beautiful, full rainbow arching over the Duomo. It was pretty amazing.

And, yes, if it sounds like it took a long time to get back to our hotel, you are correct. We made a lot of stops and when we did get back, it was nap time. That evening we headed to the train station to book tickets for our trip the next day to Venice and then tried to run to the Ferragamo Museum before it closed. We would have made it, but when we walked in the door, a nice sign was waiting to tell us it was currently under renovation. FAIL! We spent the evening shopping and had dinner at an "outdoor" cafe (it had a large tent up to guard eaters from the elements), before heading back to our hotel and relaxing for the first time during the trip.