Florence Bell Tower

           Ok so yesterday Ali and I climbed the Florence Bell Tower next to the Duomo. I actually didn't take this photo of the tower because I know I have one somewhere. Our primary objective for climbing the tower was for me to get photos of tourists taking photos of the Bell Tower and Duomo for an art project. So with my zoom lense attached, we started the long ascent.
              We immediately got a taste of the tourism at the entrance. It would cost each of us 10 Euros for tickets to climb the tower. If this wasn't for a project involving tourism, we would have turned right around and come back on a less crowded time of the year but we each paid the 10 euro. We thought about saying, "We just need to find our friend" because apparently that can get you into the back door of the Duomo and let you skip the lines but we paid instead. Once inside, you started at an expensive gift shop and then it was right up to narrow stairway tunnels that went up and up and up. The bell tower was divided into levels. Each level had a better view and was higher and higher. We were amazed when we got to the first level and the amazement continued as we went up more.

 Look with your viewfinders not your eyes.

 Were already above the city on the first level. Its really cool to walk around the tower and look out to the mountains. Florence really is in a bowl of mountains. The city has expanded so much since the renaissance that now it fills the bowl that it is in. Im sure the Romans never in a million years imagined it would get this big when they first set up camp here along the Arno river.

 Everyone cram in to get photos of the Baptistry doors! You can see the metal on the gates fading from the constant pilgrimage of people and the constant photo taking. I wonder how many photos have been taken of these doors?

 This neon sign is beautiful at night. I really like it. It would be neat to climb the bell tower at 6 before it closes and then stay up there at the top and have a dinner picnic up there and see all the lights come on in the city. It would also be neat to bring a laser pointer on a foggy night and have friends go to fiesole and to other mountain towns around the bowl of florence. Then you could point lasers at each other and there would be a spectacular laser light show for the whole city. I wonder what the laws are on lasers in Florence?......

 The Duomo. I wish I had brought my wide lens up here. I could go back. Even though it was a lot of money to go up, even by this point we were feeling like it was money well spent.

 The Duomo is just soooo immense.

 Ali is enjoying the bell tower.

 As we climbed higher and higher the views got even more amazing. It also got quieter and quieter. The sounds of the baby crying and the ever present ambulance siren were beginning to become not so loud.

That big white Facade over there is a synagogue. Facades are very expensive to build and are often much taller than the actual building. They are usually added much later than the building was actually built and many of them are made to make the building look much bigger and to make the outside of the building match the beautiful inside. Even the facade on the Duomo wasn't added until hundreds of years later! Chiesa Di San Lorenzo is a church still without a facade in Florence. It looks kinda ugly and sandstone brick on the outside, but the inside is spectacular!

The Patina dome over there is a mosque I think.

 These windows on the Duomo are really big.

 Eventually we got to a floor with some bells. We were pretty high up now. It would be neat to come up here when they ring them. It would be pretty loud. To think that a bishop used to climb these stairs twice a day is pretty cool. He must have stayed in pretty good shape.

 That big huge building that looks kinda like a fancy warehouse with the patina roof is Al Mercato Centrale (The Central Market). Its on of my favorite places to shop at. Italian farmers and vendors come with super fresh food. Its only open till 1 on weekdays. I love to get up early in the morning and shop there. The big dome building  In front of Al Mercato Centrale is Chiusa Di San Lorenzo. You can see the front of it has no facade and is left sandstone. I have been inside and it is magnificent.

 There is a rooftop terrace. Wouldn't it be nice to have dinner up there?

 Thats Stazion Santa Maria Novella. Its the main train station in Florence. Just before climbing this tower I was just on the other side of the train station looking for a market called Conad. People told me it was a good place to get olive oil. I found it eventually and it was very supermarket style. They had cheap Olive oil that I bought but I know I could get better tasting (but expensive) olive oil at the Central Market. More importantly, they had peanut butter at Conad and while it wasn't crunchy peanut butter like I like, I bought it as a gift for Ali who has been wanting peanut butter since we got here. I have heard rumors of a small Co-Op store near the train station that imports American brands. Could Conad be this store? Ali and I are both avoiding american food while here but there are some things that we really want. We both want Quaker oatmeal. Ali wanted peanut butter and I want to get the supplies to make Lava cakes in Italy (I am lacking in my desserts I can cook). I might have found a few things that could possibly work but if I find this shop then I may have more luck. Conad however, did not have any lava cake supplies. It is neat to see where I just was. I like walking all over the city.

 That big building over there is the Pitti Palace. It is a Medici Palace and it is super elegant. I have still yet to go but I want to. Behind the palace are the Pitti Gardens and they are apparently really nice. Ali went with her photo class and the photos looked neat. I really wanna go there. I had no idea it was so big!

 You can see the Arno river a little from here. See how the city has literally pushed itself up to the edges of the mountain? Its a city in a bowl.

 Here is another view of San Lorenzo. That whole courtyard and the big buildings surrounding it are all part of the church as well as the dome of course. When we first got to florence, we called that the mini duomo because we could see it from our house but we knew it wasn't the duomo.

That is the baptistry from the top of the bell tower. We were way high up here. With my zoom lens on you cannot see the whole thing. It is a really really big building though. On top of the bell tower it is very quiet and peaceful. I could stay up there for a long time just looking all around at the city. Like in Cinque Terre, I took many photos. It was neat to see all the city and although we had seen amazing overhead views of florence before, we had never seen them from the center of the city It is so cool to see all the places you go to everyday. There may be skyscrapers in America that take you higher than this but it really doesn't compare to this because other than the dome of the Duomo, there is nothing that is as tall as the Bell Tower here and you can just see so much!

 Another good view of the synagogue. If you look closely, you can see the star of David.

 On top of that hill in the distance you can see the Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte church I visited a few weeks ago. To the left below that there is a flat plaza area that is a popular place to stop at and see the city.

 The Duomo is giant. Just look at the people down there.

 Brunelleschi's dome. Next we will have to go to the top of that. That dome is actually a dome inside of a dome. You can walk a narrow passageway between the two domes and get to the top of Florence. Ali and I want to do that.

 There are lots of little towns in the surrounding hillsides of Florence.

 After staying up on the top of the tower for awhile we decided to head down. The trip down was slow and steady as its tough to go down the narrow corridors when there are people trying to go up as well. It can get claustrophobic. We made it down eventually and then we went to one of our new favorite art stores, Riggaci, to buy paper. The art stores in Italy are really nice and there are several of them. Many have a variety of the really nice, handmade, cold press, cotton rag papers that we have come to love so much at Alfred. Such papers are necessary when doing printmaking and I have never needed so much before. When it comes to art supplies, Italy has good paper and good painting supplies. It seems that in Europe there are more fine art supplies in general. I happen to really like the crayons and pens here. Apparently, France and Germany make these the best. I will have to check them out when I go there.