More of Firenze today

Bargello - courtyard

Galileo's middle finger (don't even ask why!)

Best Gelato in Italy!!

Decided to see a couple of museums today. It is definitely better to get an early start to beat the crowds. Headed off first to the Bargello - a building built in 1255, now a musuem with it’s highlight being sculptures by Michelangelo, Donatello etc. Definitely worth seeing for the building alone. We then went on over to the Museo Di Storia della Scienza which was being renovated so the admission was reduced. We did get to see what we wanted which was the Galileo Galilei exhibit - He was born in Pisa and was the court mathematician to the Medici family in Florence and is credited with inventing the telescope. The most bizarre thing we saw though was his preserved middle finger! The rest of him is buried in a church nearby.

Italy’s best gelateria (according to the books) was around there so we had to pay it a visit. Bar Vivoli Gelateria was off a tiny street and we have to say the gelato was actually better!! The Italians are very serious about their ice cream. Erin and I decided to explore some shops and of course Tom did not want any part of that! We ended up walking back to the outdoor market area and Erin found out that my bargaining skills are are very poor!

We had to head back to the Duomo as we had planned to meet George and Joyce who had arrived the previous day, at 5:30pm. We found them easily and walked over to a nearby place for dinner. They have been very busy with their group of students. They will be here for a month. We will cook dinner for them tommorrow at our apt. as we have been doing daily - pasta of course! When in Italy eat pasta........and gelato.