(D) We woke up relatively early so were ready for breakfast, which began at 7.30. It was a lovely spread which we partook of with gusto, our pizza last night was yummy but it was a long time ago! Afterwards we headed straight out to try and enjoy the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio and Ponte Vecchio areas without quite as many tourists around as the afternoon before. As a strategy it worked perfectly - there were some people around but very few, almost none if compared with the chaos we'd witnessed yesterday.

I know I've said it before, when I exclaimed to Liane "oh I just love Florence, it's so beautiful" she responded in a mock surprised tone "really, I'd never know" so I guess actually I've been saying it every five seconds, but honestly..... I just LOVE Florence! I so enjoyed today, just walking around seeing the beauty around me; after our visits to the fore mentioned "sights" we went back to the Duomo and decided to join what looked like an enormous line to see the inside of it. It's free to go inside but for some reason I didn't do it last time and so decided I'd really like to this time. We had previously stopped at the ticket office so Liane could book in to go inside the Duomo top, tmw at 2.30 was the earliest time she could get, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her photos but no way am I doing it. I know my limits and I have surpassed them in terms of heights and scary things this trip already!

As for the, more my style, general look inside the Cathedral trip, the line seemed incredibly long but we actually only waited about 10 mins as the line shuffled along quite quickly. Once inside we discovered that the interior doesn't reflect the exterior very much - all the money and effort definitely appears to have gone on the outside, but I'm still glad we went in and I loved the tiles on the floor and the paintings on the inside of the cuppola - just beautiful!

After that we walked some more and made our way up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to admire the fabulous sight of Florence laid out before you on high. It seemed really foggy/smoggy but of course was still incredibly gorgeous! That view sustained us as we made our way back down to the city and ultimately to the hotel again. We'd decided to rest up for our scheduled evening trip to St Marks Anglican Church for the program of operatic love duets though we did go out again briefly for a side trip of Margaritas and Four Cheese Gnocchi! The drinks initially blew our heads off and, though no shades of nail polish remover were involved, I remarked to Liane that perhaps petrol was..... she came back with "elements of the tsipouro we had in Greece maybe?".... a la pure alcohol, whatever it was it kind of grew on me and I actually enjoyed it by the end of the glass!

As for the music, the Operatic Love Duets at Marks Anglican Church, I could go into raptures about it..... such an intimate space, such amazingly gifted singers, a fabulously charismatic and talented host/piano player who explained what was to be sung and gave a short background on it.... the whole thing was magical and amazing and Liane and I were both in tears multiple times at the sheer sound and beauty of it all and of course the memories of our wonderful Dad that it generated. Here's to you, our fabulous and fantastic father for the gift you gave us of being able to recognise and appreciate music that truly touches your soul! We will forever remember you xxx

(L) As Deb said we had popped into the Ticket Office to buy a €15 ticket for me to climb the dome, this also gives you entry into the Bell Tower and the Baptistry. Once you have this ticket you have to go to the ticket machines and reserve a time for entry, all the Dome was sold out for today so I had to take the first available time which is 2.30 tomorrow. The Bell Tower was completely booked for the next 2 days!! I don't know if you can do this online but I'm guessing yes and I'd definitely recommend doing that if you have your heart set on this.

We had a great day wandering around Florence and as usual we had lovely weather. 

The opera was all we could ever have expected or desired.... it was such a wonderfully intimate space that one felt the music was directed specifically at you personally. As Deb mentioned we were both incredibly moved and had tears streaming down our faces, most especially at those moments where the so very talented pianist played a solo piece... very definitely directed straight to our hearts from memories of D.O.D playing some such melodies.... the arias also seemed directed specifically towards us with long ago remembered tunes that echoed from our past and reminded us of our wonderful father who has not long left this world but left such a huge impact on our senses. He is most certainly with us through every day and experience!

One more day to wander in Florence!