Firenze, Lucca and Milano

We caught a train from Siena to Firenze; what a great way to travel in Europe. I enjoy being able to walk around, and so far, we've had multiple seats to ourselves.

Our mount from Siena to Firenze

The Arno river and the Pont de Vecchio

Shops on the famous bridge

Downstream from the Pont de Vecchio

We were initially disappointed by Firenze. We'd loved the lack of tourists and grockle in Siena, but Firenze seemed to be inhabited by wall to wall tourists. This was also reflected in the prices in restaurants and shops. Siena, and later, Milano were cheap by comparison.

Main Duomo in Firenze

Unbelievably ornate Gothic exterior to the cathedral

Street sculpture

Spectacular city gate

Yet another church

Giarondo period baptistry

That's a real mummified priest in that glass box. Now you know why they burn all that incense.

But Florence did have its virtues, and the Uffizi gallery was one of them. If you're a fan of Renaissance art, this is the number one gallery in Europe.

The 'anteroom' of the Uffizi gallery

That poor little willie seems awfully unprotected here ...

More virgins than you could poke a stick at!

Tribunal: The actual sitting room for the Medici's when resident.

Francesca's 'Dukes of Urbino'

Unknown sculptor

Michelangelo's painting: Tondo Doni

Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus'

Botticelli's 'La Primavera'

Portrait of a famous Firenze dwarf.

Caravaggio's Medusa

After we'd pounded the pavements of Firenze to exhaustion, we caught a suburban train to the town of Lucca, famous for its intact Renaissance era walls. Lucca was founded by the Etruscans, and became a Roman town in 180 B.C. It is also renown as the birthplace of Puccini, famous Italian opera composer.  Lucca was a delightful change of pace from Florence, small and intimate, we happily strolled around for a day before catching the train back to Firenze.

Gate through the Renaissance city walls around Lucca

Old chapel by the city walls

Beautiful blooming magnolia trees in Lucca

Piazza Anfiteatro

Duomo de Saint Martino

Wintery trees in the central Piazza.

After four days, we journeyed on from Florence to Milan, the centre of Italian fashion. Milan is a huge metropolis of about 5 million people, and is the third largest economic centre in the EU, after London and Paris.

Milan's central railway station feels like a museum

Massive front facade of the railway station

Home of much modern architecture

The Italians do uniforms like no other race!

One of the huge arcades fronting on the Duomo square

A huge sewing needle symbolic of the city's fashion ethic

Sforza Castle central parade ground 

Megan with fountain outside the Sforza Castle

Classic Milanese tram

We caught these trams all over the city

We enjoyed the lively cosmopolitan spirit of Milan, along with one of the best meals I've had in Italy at the incongruously named 'Woodstock 3' trattoria. After 3 days, it was time to head out, this time for the hills of Switzerland, in search of a divine guitar. If we find her, I'll be yodelling from the alp tops!