Final Day of Summer

Most of the students started school today, but by some stroke of luck, I don't start until tomorrow. So Liz, who also didn't have school today, and I walked around and took lots of pictures.

We took a lot of touristy pictures at the Duomo:

Then we walked to the sculpture garden outside of the Uffizi again and took pictures of Cellini's Perseus (holding Medusa's head), and then statutes of famous Florentines:

There's also a great story about the Arno River. Lovers would come to the Pontevecchio (the big, beautiful bridge that crosses the Arno) with two locks, one for each lover, and they would write their names on their respective locks. Then they would lock the two together and throw it into the river. If you did this, you would apparently stay lovers forever. However, in recent years, the eroding metal has been destroying the river, and it has become illegal to throw the locks in the Arno. Instead, lovers write their names on a single lock and clip it to the chains along the bridge. There are thousands of them, and some of the locks are quite interesting to look at.

We also encountered a Disney store. Though everything was expensive, it seemed that some things were actually cheaper than in America, and they had a lot of designs and styles that were distinctly European and I had never seen in America before. They were also playing Toy Story, but in Italian, and we stayed and watched the part where Buzz Lightyear learns he can't fly. It is just as emotional in Italian as it is in English, although Buzz's voice is much deeper.

I found a handmade book store, and really wanted to take pictures, but felt badly about it because I wasn't buying anything... yet. I'm planning on going back in there and getting some awesome stuff, and when I do, be prepared for pictures. Because there will be many.

We also see a lot of dogs around the city. They are all pets (we haven't seen strays yet), and they're all very well behaved. And the owners take them into the shops and tourist sites and restaurants, which is a bit of culture shock for me.

And here are just a few other pictures I took today whilst wandering: