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Todd took this shot above and I think it's fantastic! This was quite literally the view once we walked out our front door! Duomo!

We all couldn't believe how filthy it was ... the front facade was quite clean but I was really surprised to see how black the other side was. It's a shame too because the green and red marble is so interesting. 

Nerida and I got up early and snuck out of the house to go and climb the bell tower. We'd done a little bit of reading and it was a bit of a hidden secret. Most people line for hours to climb the duomo but once we were up the bell tower we quickly realised to get a view of the people on the dome was even more spectacular!
The sun was rising over Florence. It was really stunning!
So many stairs to get up .. and they got narrower and narrower ... (plus we were a little hungover ... and empty bellies with no breakfast!) 

Once back at the house we had some breakfast and decided to head off to the leather markets for a look around and to get some lunch. 

We had a tour of the Chianti region booked in for later that afternoon.

Todd was on the look out for a leather bag to use for work and he found a few to keep his eye on.

We went back over the next two days to buy it ... an early 30th present to put away for September.

We then went to the Mercato for lunch, a multi-story building that was fresh food and meats on the bottom levels and a brilliant food court on the top level. 

You could pick what you wanted to eat and there was a bar in the middle. A really fantastic idea!
All the produce looked so delicious!
I had meatballs and homemade pasta, Todd had a burger and chips, Nerida and Brad had such a nice eggplant pizza!

We made our way over to the train station where we were meeting the tour group.

Once on the bus it was great ... the tour guide had brilliant english and she explained so much about Florence and it's rich history. It was really nice to just sit back and look out the window and listen.

The first winery was definitely the best. After a quick little tour of the barrels they took us into a room where, not only was there wine to taste, but also balsamic vinegar, olive oil and cheese. It was really great to get some food with the wine tastings. It was also so interesting to learn a little more about the Chianti region .. and for me, really interesting to learn about Balsamic of Moderna as the correct balsamic vinegar to buy.

The second winery was just a wine tasting, no snacks like the last place... the building however was quite gorgeous.

An old stone building that looked out to a view over the green hills. The grass was covered in thousands of little daisies. It was very pretty.

On our way home the bus briefly stopped at a castle ... (I'm trying to remember the name?!)

Behind the walls opened on to a quaint little town .. you could really imagine the little community that would have lived here. A church and cobblestones courtyards and buildings ...

It is now set up for tourists with shops and tables in the courtyards to eat. Todd sniffed out the ice cream shop which was a stella move. More nocciola!

Once we were back in central Florence we went to find some dinner. We ended up going back to the mercato where everyone ordered their preference!

A great evening to end a really wonderful day exploring Tuscany!