FLORENCE, ITALY (June 3, 2012)

The ship docked in Livorno which is a one and a half hour drive from Florence.  We had to take a bus which cost us $123.00 r/t each.  The bus let us off a good 20 minute walk from the old city of Florence.  This is due to the fact that buses cannot fit or park on the streets that are any closer to the old city.  It was a very hot day and the bus did not go back to the ship for seven hours!  This may have clouded my impression of Florence!  There is no denying that the Galleries and churches are beautiful but seven hours?  There was no place to sit that was in the shade and every cafe and restaurant was packed with people.  There was even some sort of social protest and parade going on and that  added another few hundred local protestors to the already congested streets!  They must have anticipated problems with the protest because polizia were everywhere (with sirens going).  My mind had envisioned something much more romantic like violins and Italian love songs!  I did take some photos of some of the more interesting and picturesque sites although we did not enter some of the galleries that we would have liked to see.  The lines were like Disneyland on a summer day and each church and gallery wanted many euro to enter.  I hope when I look at my photos at a later date, I will have fonder memories of Florence.  We were exhausted when we got back to the ship and so was everyone else. I understand not many showed up for the ships evening entertainment!

Couldn't get into this church as it was Sunday and masses were going on.  It is an active local parish located in the main square.  I took this when we first arrived before the masses converged on the square.

This bridge takes you over to the old city and has designer shops actually on the bridge.

This mime was in the Uffizi Gallery.  Yes, this is a real person.  Absolutely amazing.