Tuesday started off bright and sunny but alas Wayne did not. He is still fighting his cold so he slept in and Peggy found her way to and from Galleria deli Academia (Museum) after sharing breakfast table with a lovely woman from New Zealand who was in Florence for an oil painting class and “fun”. While waiting in line, Peggy learned that the covered part of the Ponte Vecchio (the only Florence bridge not bombed in WWII) was originally built by order of the Medici family who ruled Florence for almost 300 years. The family wanted the protection of a covered walkway across the river connecting the Palazzo Vecchio (Florence Town Hall) and the Palazzo Pitti where they resided as rulers in Florence.

The museum houses some wonderful art works. The collection was begun by the Medici family in the 1500s. Along with wonderful art works including Michaelangelo’s David and Atlas, a Stradivarius and the first piano forte were also on display.

Along with the wonderful art works, the tour guide provided some interesting historical information. In the 12 century Florence was an important (most important business center) in the world. It developed the gold Floren coin which was used as the financial standard for trade and commerce in Europe. It also had many artisan guilds for both professionals like physicians, lawyers and judges as well as craftsmen. Florence is also considered the birthplace of the Renaissance. Botticelli, Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci all have their artistic roots in Florence.

After sleeping in Wayne was feeling better so we toured the Uffizi Museum with artworks by the Masters of the Renaissance as well as sculptures by Greek and Roman masters. When considering the tours of both museums, we were lucky enough to see works of many artists including Lippi, Botticelli, Michaelangelo, da Vinci and Raphael. We topped off the day with a walk thru the narrow streets and dinner in an outdoor cafe.

Wednesday we headed to Venice for more explorations on our adventure. As predicted it was a rainy overcast day. Wayne found some sections of windy roads as he zigzagged thru or around the mountains. It reminded him of the Wanganui River Road in New Zealand. The scenery was pretty spectacular despite it being so overcast. Peggy leaned back, closed her eyes and listened to Rick Steeves talk about Venice. After 5 1/2 – 6 hours we arrived at our new home away from home. It is an area just west of Venice called Marghera. It is just not worth navigating the narrow roads in the city AND trying to find a place to park. The bus or train to Venice is a 5 minute walk from our lovely hotel and a 10 minute ride into the city.
But expensive online ordering viagra and complicated treatments like surgery and all of that. If you are looking for relationship therapy in Richmond, then this article is aimed at guiding you in finding the right spegeneric viagra tab t for you and your partner. Biological symptoms: There are a number of biological symptoms that might contribute towards http://appalachianmagazine.com/advertise-with-us-2/ free viagra tablets premature ejaculation. This is called http://appalachianmagazine.com/2015/page/6/ levitra generika for a lot of reasons.

We had a delicious dinner in a neighborhood restaurant and now it is time to rest up for some serious sightseeing tomorrow.

Ciao,
Wayne and Peggy