Florence pictures have arrived! These are pictures taken during the aforementioned Valentine's Day weekend spent in Florence. This is the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge over the Arno River. Both sides of the bridge are bordered by jewelry shops where we oggled jewels and dreamt about what we wanted to buy some day.

These pictures are a little out of order, so you will have to forgive me. We snoozed in the Boboli Gardens for a while in the afternoon. It was delightful to sit in the sun. Below is are Wendy, Carrie, and Sam basking in the sun around a fountain.

We also found a cat in the gardens. We seem to find cats all over Italy. I am gathering a collection of photos of Italain cats which I plan on showing my dad as soon as I arrive at home. Carrie and this cat, whom we dubbed Latte (or milk), bonded as you can see. They both seem to be in a state of dreamland in this picture.

I really like this picture. It shows the reflection of the sky in the pond around a fountain. The perfect illustration of a beautiful day!

This picture is for my mom. She took so many pictures of English gardens this summer in London that I had to show her a glimpse of what gardens are like in Italy, i.e. lots of statues and oddly pruned trees, but beautiful.

We climbed to the top of the dome of the Duomo in Florence, and it was totally worth it! The view and experience were amazing. It was sunny up here too, so we hung around for a while and warmed up. This is Steph and I overlooking the city and, I believe, the Palazzo Vecchio is in the background.
And finally, a sunny view of the Duomo in Florence. It was even cooler, on the outside, than I imagined it. The inside is pretty sparse, except for the dome interior because they have moved all the artwork to the duomo museum. Once I get good at watercoloring, I might try my hand at this one.