August 3: Florence

The heat continues so early starts to the day work better for sightseeing in a city! Off first to the Palazzo Vecchio to tour the interior rooms. The Palazzo served as the home of Duke Cosmos I de' Medici starting in 1540 thus securing the security of the Medici power over Florence. It was the Medici family that is responsible for expansive art collections throughout the city. Artists, like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Vasari, Bartolommeo Bandinelli , to name but a few were all brought to the city to create a masterpiece or two. Many are housed in the Palazzo as frescos decorating the rooms. Others can be found next door at the Uffizi Gallery.

Around the corner and next door is the Galileo Museum. No photographs were allowed, but the experience was amazing. It owns one of the world’s major collection of scientific instruments, which bears evidence of the crucial role that the Medici and Lorraine Grand Dukes attached to science and scientists. It is housed in Palazzo Castellani, an 11th-century building which was then known as the Castello d’Altafronte.