Dome

From the ground it is hard to not wonder what the inside of the dome looks like or what kind of view can be seen. Well we got to wonder no longer, but first had to climbed over 400 winding stairs to the top!

Along the way got to see examples of how the bricks were placed to sustain such weight. Our first stop to the top gave us an up close look into the dome.

We then continued up to the very top inside hot and tight stairways. Eventually we make it to and can take in the view birds usually only get the chance to have.

Florence

We finally got to sleep a little extra. We really needed that because we were going full force. Once we rested we explored our surroundings. 

The Cathedral of Florence Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is right down the street. 

We DECIDED to take a dinner option with a view of the cathedral.

 After dinner we went out to see the Ponte Vecchio and along the way we saw a singer and touched a boar.

The boar is to bring you good luck if you touch the snout. It is on the edge of a market place Which the singer was performing.

This is the old bridge.

Milan

We woke up early to enjoy breakfast provided by the hotel. Then we prepped ourselves to take a train to Milan, so we could go on a guided tour. Our guide was great. We took an air conditioned bus and she told a bit about the city. We then went out into the city center and toured the opera house museum. Our tour guide explained how the theater was the place to be and have music in the background. Also those who had a box would decorate it and even talked during the performance as we do while listening to the radio.

The city center has a statue of Leonardo.

They created this outside shopping mall as a means to still enjoy outside regardless of the weather. 

It is referred to as the gallery, but officially Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. This is an area strictly for window shopping for most people. It is very high end. I saw a Mercedes Store and even has two Prada shops.

a

We then stood in the plaza for  Milan Cathedral.

With tickets in hand we entered the Duomo.

After seeing such a beautiful place we loaded back on the bus for our main purpose. To see The Last Supper in person. Of course we could not take pictures, but it looked as expected only larger than we have ever seen in person. It took up the entire wall and although the material continues to deteriorate despite efforts such as double doors and purified air. 

I took this image from google. 

Our time in Italy has Just begun, but this was so impressive. 

We really look forward to our next week in such a beautiful country. 

Hotel and Italian Dinner

We took another train from Milan to Florence which we are using as our hub of our Italy stay. We took a taxi to our hotel which is family establishment. We were shown to our room and given a bottle of chilled wine because our room of 3 beds would not be available until the next morning. We were instead given 2 rooms with full beds, so Lucien and Jill stayed in one while Steven had one to himself.

We gladly excepted the wine and asked for dinner recommendations.

This was a great first taste. 

With full stomachs we returned to the hotel. Along the way we saw a flute performance on the steps of a church.

Paris to Italy

We headed to the train station only to find it is in another area. We found help, after several stops and the assistance of a police officer we got tickets for a subway. We then made our way up some stairs into another station in which we ran to catch our train with 10 minutes to spare. 

Our 3 bags... that's all we took!

It was lovely to see the countryside, woods, and mountains along the way. The train reaches speeds close to 200 miles per hour.

snack car is always so much fun

waterfall in mountains

Paris

We found our hotel with ease. It is actually a hostel and other than our room being tiny and without air conditioning the room was fine. When I say it is hot this Texas girl is not exaggerating. It was crazy hot. The staff let us borrow a fan which helped.

We headed out for lunch then took a taxi to the Eiffel Tower. 

We tried to do One of Those Hop On Hop Off bus tours. Instead it made us sick because we did not have a seat and thus no audio. We hopped off. Funny things is when we saw other buses from that company they were never as crowded. I guess just bad luck. 

We ended up taking a taxi to Notre Dame Which is breathtaking with such detail and can really make the imagination run wild.

We enjoyed a bottle of wine  with bread and cheese from a restaurant with a view. We also visited with other travelers' enjoying the view as well.

We actually went back to the tower to see it at night and even saw fireworks.