Santa Croce

See the first posts here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

On day six, we were up early to get the heck out of Rome and catch the train to Florence. After asking around how we were supposed to use our E-rail passes, we found a train that would drop us off on their way to Milano.


Our first Italy train ride!!

When we got to Florence, it was like the city immediately liked us. Our hotel was about two blocks away from the train station and easy to find. We walked there and checked in only to realize that they had upgraded us to literally the penthouse suite. When we walked into the room, we were so blown away by how much SPACE we had, we were like kids in a candy store. I was running around clicking picture after picture of the king size bed, the amazing view, the walk in closet. We realized later that the hotel room really wasn't that fancy, but we were literally in a crackerjack box in Rome, so this was like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous compared to that!

We soon headed out to explore the city. Since it was a Sunday, the streets were very empty and a lot of the shops were closed. It was still very nice though. We walked along the river until we came to Ponte Vecchio. The shops on the bridge were closed too, but we weren't really into buying any jewelry anyway.


Ponte(Bridge) Vecchio


Next, we went in search of Santa Croce, which wasn't far away. We were worried we wouldn't get in because it was Sunday, but we did anyway and there were barely any people in there with us. It was really nice. Notice how empty the square in front of the church is?


The front of the church.


Tomb of Galileo


Tomb of Michaelangelo. I know I mentioned his tomb earlier being in the Pantheon in Rome, but I meant Raphael was in the Pantheon. I always get those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mixed up. (Seriously...that's how I remember their names.)


Tomb of Machiavelli


Some cool stained glass in Santa Croce. It was such a nice church. The outside was of course fancy and beautiful with it's white marble, but the inside was actually pretty plain. But, both Jerod and I thought it was much more beautiful then St. Peter's. It wasn't gaudy, but just simple and elegant.


This was the chapel right next to Santa Croce. It was also a plain, but beautiful building.

After that, we headed over to Piazza Della Signoria to see our first David! More tomorrow!