Today we had no plans – our train leaves at at around 5PM so we can walk around as we want for a few hours.

We decided to go to the Palazzo Vechio, the old palace of the Medici and the seat of the city government. But, on the way, we bought yet another ceramic at Machivelli – a large bust of a woman (yes, they’re shipping it). We didn’t want to say “woulda, shoulda, coulda” later.

The sales woman with the bust we bought

Then we walked over to the Palazzo Vechio, which is filled with lots of great grotesques and frescoes.

View of the rear of the main hall

A detail from the center of the ceiling of the main hall

Bust of Machiavelli

A portrait at a window

A grotesque detail

A frescoed wall

Dante’s death mask

Celing

Celing

Celing

Celing

We then had a quick lunch at a trattoria and walked over to San Lorenzo. They don’t allow photos inside San Lorenzo anymore.

Ticket for San Lorenzo

We went back to the hotel, got our bags and a taxi to the train station. We got to our train and rode for two hours to Rome. We missed our connecting train to the airport so we took a later one – that meant we got to the airport Hilton at around 8:30PM (there’s a 20 – 30 minute walk from the airport – just be aware…). There was a long wait to check in. We had a snack for dinner and slept.

Train ticket from Florence to Rome