Toscana: Sienna and Firenze

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After a relaxing time in Umbria, we took in the sights and sounds of one of Italy's most beautiful towns - Sienna. The church or Duomo was absolutely spectacular with unique zebra marble stripes. While eating lunch in the main square, we were treated to the sight of thousands of children releasing bright yellow balloons into the air while singing songs. We have no idea why they were doing it, but it was fun to watch!!

Then on to Florence, where our commitment to art was tested with a 3 hour long queue to get into the Uffizi. Once in, we discovered a special Da Vinci exhibition which Amber loved. It turns out that we were in Florence at the same time as every other school excursion in Italy.

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We climbed the Duomo and came within inches of the magnificent frescoed ceiling....we also worked on toning our buts walking up the approx 500 steps to get up there. After strolling over Ponte Vecchio (the oldest bridge in Italy) we took in a magnificient panorama of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo (designed by the man himself). We shopped for some bargains, had numerous coffees in various piazzas and, of course, ate more pasta.