21-Apr. It was already past 6 in the evening when we left Rome, going to Florence (or Firenze in Italian; Florentia in ancient times). Our hotel was walking distance to the station. Hehe! Mon ran over somebody's foot on the way to the hotel. Ooops! 
Our hotel -- like my granny's old house, with 'antique' furnitures inside :-) ... it's comfy though.
Had dinner in a Chinese restaurant for a change. For a few days, we hadn't had rice and asian dishes, we kind of missed it a bit.
It's a few hours before Good Friday. We did Visita Iglesia until 1a.m., spending a few minutes inside to pray and give thanks to our Creator. Justin said to his Dad , "When are we going to stop? Maybe, Mum is 'mana' to Lolo! She always loves walking!" Well, I uttered, "It's nearly Good Friday... yet we're out on a holiday. This is our penitence."
We were in Italy, not surprised to see a number of people, visiting churches this lenten season, though it's already midnight. The churches were still open, one of them was with a group of parishioners praying and singing.
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella - This dominican church is situated opposite the main railway station - Firenze S.M.N.
Basilica di San Lorenzo - in romanesque style, one of the largest and oldest churches in Florence. Behind the altar was a door leading to a domed room, with extra ordinary paintings around the walls and ceilings. Cameras were not allowed inside. 
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore - in Gothic style built in over six centuries. It is also known as the Florence Cathedral (Duomo). 
Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistry of St John) - situated accross the Florence Cathedral; an octagonal baptistry - signifying 6 days of creation + 1 day of rest + 1 day of re-creation through the Sacrament of Baptism.
Pictures of two churches we had visited (can't remember the name; these were also situated in the city.)
Palazzo della Vecchio ('old palace') (originally called as Palazzo della Signoria) - This is the town hall of Florence overlooking Piazza della Signoria. We stopped over to take some photos and at the same withdrew cash from the nearby ATM.
Opposite Palazzo della Vecchio was Loggia della Signoria (also known as Loggia dei Lanzi). It was built between 1376 and 1382 and houses a number of Rennaissance and Roman sculptures and statues. Among them are the bronze statue of Perseus- holding Medusa's head, the Abduction / Rape of the Sabine Virgins, Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus, etc.Ponte Vecchio - a medieval bridge over the Arno River... Known with its goldsmith shops. This was our last stop... Headed back to the hotel... a bit nervous at times... trying to avoid drunk on the streets... and at the same time avoiding streets with hardly any people. We arrived safely in the hotel, tired but it's worth it. I probably lost a few pounds, so did Mon.
22-Apr. Still at Florence, before checking out, we spent hours looking for a hotel at Venice via internet. Most of them are already fully booked. We thought we're just wasting our time finding for a place to stay there, so we had decided to just skip Venice. We could always come back... Next time, maybe. Plan B, we would go to Milan after our trip to Pisa and see if we could buy a ticket there back to Zurich Switzerland. If not, we would find a place/hotel to stay for a night at Milan. We checked out and asked the hotel staff to keep our luggage.
We walked around, hoping to see the Galeria dell'Accademia to see the original statue of 'David' by Michelangelo.
Our first stop was Basilica di San Marco. Mon went inside. I was wearing shorts so I don't think they'd let me in if I did go. T'was a very very long queue at the Galleria dell'Accademia. This time, we didn't attempt to queue up.
We kept on walking and reached the Street market near Basilica di San Lorenzo. We bought Justin a new jacket and I bought 2 scarves. We're not able to enjoyed it much though... with Justin - keeping on reminding us how the time was wasted staying in the market. "Hmmp! Give him what he wants!" We decided to go back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and go.
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