FLORENCE 1 AND 2: I arrived in Florence in the early afternoon and it was a beautiful day for just wandering around. Serious déja-vu being here, having spent a week here studying at Lingua Viva Italian school at the end of 2001. I arrived already knowing where most things were, and having a sense of direction (I know some of you may be shocked by that!). It was quite a luxury considering I usually have to orient myself once I arrive at the station!

Florence's beautiful Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo, which took almost 150 years to complete

Its campanile (bell tower), designed by Giotto

The Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge to survive the German bombing in WWII. It used to be lined with butchers shops until Ferdinando I de' Medici decided that jewellery shops were more appealing. Especially considering the butchers used to throw the unwanted pieces of meat into the river!

The afternoon view down the Arno River from the Ponte Vecchio. I love Florence!

That night the two girls who were sharing my room and I went to get a pizza for tea and ended up watching a band play for a couple of hours on the Ponte Vecchio. The view is even prettier at night with all the lights and a few boats sailing up and down

The following day I visited the Medici Chapels where some of the members of the Medici family are interred, and where there are a lot of relics of saints: fingernails, gallstones, hair. Charming! Michelangelo also completed some beautiful sculptures in the chapel off to the side of the main church. However, no photos allowed. Imagine away!

After the Medici Chapels I headed to the Archeological Museum. By now it's obvious I really like this sort of stuff, I've been to quite a few of these museums now! This photo shows little sculptures that were found in Egyptian tombs, made of faience. It's usually a beautiful blue colour like the one in the middle

A beautiful Egyptian jar made of faience; looking at the quality of some of the things they made, it's obvious how advanced they were

Some Egyptian funerary urns; these are one of the most common items found when excavating Egyptian tombs

Onto the Etruscans, who were a fascinating civilisation. Also remarkably advanced, not only artistically, but politically and socially, for their time; they created some beautiful jewellery and pottery and sculpture

More Etruscan sculpture, it's amazing the detail in the horse