Travelling is hard work.
It’s two parts discomfort…
5 parts insight…
And the rest is experience.
This leads to inevitable exhaustion that you’ll feel at the end of the day.
I knew we were getting close to Florence when I could see the russet red rooftops that are a trademark of the city.
Surprise, surprise… the rain had followed us all the way from Rome.
I tried not to think about it as I continued to scan the horizon for the landmark that Florence is best known for.
I got my first glimpse of the Duomo as it slowly revealed itself in the hazy distance.
It was very exciting.
The Duomo for those of you who aren’t up on all things Italian, is a very large cathedral best known for its enormousness red oval shaped dome.
It took centuries to build because the architects and engineers of the time just could not figure out how to build a dome with the same grandeur of the Pantheon in Rome.
Frank and I had sought out all the documentaries we could possibly find on the history of this truly beautiful Italian accomplishment.
Now, as beautiful as the Duomo was from the outside, both Frank and I knew that the beauty underneath of the dome would be truly life altering.
The question was, would we be able to get there without first drowning from all the rain?
Crossing the Arno River in itself was an epoch in my life. How many times had I used this word to help fill in a crossword puzzles?
It was nice to know, that the next time I would print out this four letter word in response to 16 across, I would be able to tell myself, that yes, I was there!
The bus stopped at a ravine overlooking the city of Florence.
Standing in the middle of the terrace was a very tired and wet looking statue of David.
Not the real one mind you, but the first of many replica David statues that we would see that day.
We could see easily see the Duomo in the distance against a backdrop of heavy grey rain clouds.
Yes, we would not make it through this day without getting drenched.
That much was a given.
Even seeing the Duomo surrounded by the rainclouds was a beautiful sight.
All the photos I had seen of it were taken on beautiful and sunny days.
I had never seen it quite like this, and for that I was grateful.
Yes, it rains even in Florence.
Umbrellas, rain coats, rain ponchos and rain boots crossed all the language barriers.
They were used all around the world.
And so, in the drizzling rain, there we all stood and stared at the glory of Florence and the architectural achievement of the Duomo.
We could easily be looking back in time by several hundred years.
Incredible…
And here we were,
….living the dream!
Epiphabets 
Brings back wonderful memories for us too. The most memorable was to see Michelangelo’s David in a special admission that the Hotel had arranged. Fabulous. I broke out in tears (as I did when I saw the Pieta on the side basilica of St. Peter’s; so small and vulnerable, not gigantic as I had imagined it), the sight of David, his oversized arms and hands, not proportionate to his body but for the eye just right! Actually we had some rain in Florence too, but then also sunshine. At the Uffizi gallery we were in a huge line of tourists and finally gave up. So we missed this famous landmark altogether. Love and thanks, Irmgard