florence pt3

Next stop, PONTE VECCHIO (old bridge). it is very unique because there are stores (mostly jewelry) on both edges/sides of the bridge. the first ponte vecchio was built by wood in ancient roman times but was destroyed by a flood in 1333. it was re-built in 1345 from stone this time. in the middle of the bridge is 3 arches where you can look out from. all the bridges in florence were destroyed by the germans except for this one, allegedly hitler's orders. here is a couple of shots of it:

and this is a shot from the bridge. jewelry stores are on either side

final stop, BASILICA DI SANTA CROCE. its huge, but you cant tell from this pic. it houses many pieces of art as well as tombs of galileo galilei, dante alighieri, enrico fermi, machiavelli and many more. i didnt go in so no pix of the inside.

santa croce seen from the tower: i hope you enjoyed the tour of florence. if you did, please leave a tip.