April 27, Florence, Italy

Well today was the bus trip adventure. Aparently driving and finding a parking spot in Florence can really be a trying experience so we elected to take a bus to and from Florence. The bus left Panzano at 9:15 and arrived in Florence at 10:45. All for a distance of 31 km. It takes a bizare route through hill and dale and allover Italy. We had been travelling on the bus for 30 minutes and we were farther away fromFlorence than when we started. In the end we were delivered to the bus station in the center of town and ready to start our sightseeing. Since we had been there before we spent some time revisiting some of the sights that we had seen on our previous trip. Even though we had seen it before , the Domo is a very impresive sight. Gale is seen looking at the doors of the Baptistery.The original doors go back to 1401 and were sculpted by an artist named Lorenzo Ghiberti. I am seen standind infront of one of the many copies of the statue of David. We rambled around and crossed the oldest bridge over the Arno River. This bridge has buildings as part of the structure and now houses the most expensive jewlery shops in town. We did find a church square tht we did not see last time located inthe Piazza Santa Croce. This church was bult from 1294 to1424. In those days it took a while to build things. In the square were many vendors selling local foods and wines. An excellent oppertunity for us to have our lunch. After this we went on a shopping tour of several markets , much to the delight of Gale. As a result our bags will be considerably heavier going home. By 5 pm we were all shopped and walked out and most ready to get back to the bus terminal for the trip back to Panzano. Our bus driver waqs not one to spare the steeds and we took a speedy and more direct route back. (very scary) Monday in Pazano , most restaurants are closed so we elected to have a picnic in our room. Chianti, salami, cheese and bread filled the cracks in our bellies. Time to hit the sack and get up tomorrow to start on our next adventure. The holiday is starting to quickly dissapear and soon we will be back home.