Saturday 7th January

We had nothing specific organised today, so decided to do a few things that we had become aware of during our tours. The first was to climb to the top of the bell tower, which means going up 411 steps. Some wonderful views of the city from the top, and then of course it was 411 steps back down again. From there we joined the line to climb to the top of the Duomo, and that was over 460 steps, some of which are in quite a tight spiral. Again, the view from the top was amazing, and making our way to the top we, we could see how the cupola (dome) had been built - it's actually one dome inside another, unbelievable engineering, and I think this was the first of its type, so the other Duomo domes followed the same line of engineering. And then we made our way back down the 460 steps.
Next we went to the Church of the Holy Cross (Santa Croce) where Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante and many others are buried.
After that it was shopping time and sadly I must report that Peter out-shopped me today, purchasing new jeans and t-shirts.
I forgot to mention that one of the buildings pointed out to us by the guide on our walking tour yesterday was the location of the studio where Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, which was "just around the corner" from where Michelangelo's studio was located.
Whilst we haven't done any running during our holiday do far, we've done heaps of walking, usually covering several kilometers every day and usually taking the stairs to get to our hotel room. Fortunately in Firenze we are only on the third floor, as the legs were getting a bit weary after up and down the bell tower and Duomo, then the rest of the walking today.
Still no news to confirm if we are off to Maranello on Monday, so we may miss out on our trip to the Ferrari factory.
Photos today are of views from the top of the bell tower, and Pete on the top of the bell tower with the Duomo in the background; then views from the top of the Duomo, and me on the top of the Duomo.