Here is the front side of the Duomo. This is the best photo we could get, because there are buildings all around it and it was impossible to get far away and take a good photo. Anyway, we felt this was one of the most interesting churches we saw. The photo doesn't show how colorful it was. The stones all had a pinkish tone with green trim.
The famed Michaelangelo's David. again, photos don't anywhere near do it justice - it's so much more impressive in real life. Even Bob thought it was pretty awesome, and he wasn't even interested in seeing it in he first place. This was my favorite piece of art in Italy. The detail was incredible, from the veins in his hands to the muscles in his legs. On the left is the original David, preserved in the Musea d'Academia. On the right is an exact replica placed in the square where the original had been.
From Florence we rented a car and drove around the Tuscan countryside. We decided to visit Ponte Buggianese, the tiny town where Bob's great-grandfather was born. Here's the town church. In the same square is a WWI memorial and sure enough, there are three Teglias on there. It didn't appear to be a common Italian name but there were quite a few in this town.
here's one of the teglias in PB. She welcomed us into her home and insisted on feeding us lunch. It was obvious that having the "Americans" visiting was a very big deal to her. The main problem was the language barrier - nobody spoke English and we spoke little Italian.
We spent one night at Villa Vignamaggio in the Chianti region. The villa was featured not too long ago in the movie "Much Ado About Nothing" with Emma Thompson. Bob is relaxing by the pool; our room is one of the three suites behind him. The rooms were so luxurious! The meal we had was the best I've ever had - It took three hours to finish and had more courses than I could count. It was a beautiful place and a wonderful way to end our honeymoon.