The interior of the Baptistery of St. Giovanni is is believed to be the oldest building in Florence. It was rather small considering some of the other massive structures we encountered in city and the lighting wasn't good so I couldn't get any decent pictures in there.
On the east side of the Baptistery are the famed Gates of Paradise, a set of bronze doors featuring reliefs that depict scenes from the Old Testament sculpted by Lorenzo Ghiberti. The pictures seen here are actually copies of the original doors (which now hang in the Museum Opera del Duomo). It took Ghiberti 21 years to sculpt the doors.
Florence itself is a quaint city with a lot of activity, old buildings, and winding streets. It has a good deal of charm despite the fact that it also has an overly commercial feel to it with many of the buildings housing jewelry shops, leather stores and dealers hawking souvenirs and trinkets.
In addition to all the touristy traps, there's a lot of churches in Florence. I don't know what the significance is of this one, but I just felt like taking a picture of it.
Ponte Vecchio is the city's oldest bridge, dating back to 1345. It extends over the Arno River and has always been home to shops and merchants (mainly butchers). These days the stores are occupied by jewelers and vendors specializing in touristy knick knacks (surprise).
Across from Ponte Vecchio is the Ponte Santa Trinita. It was designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati (with a little help from Michelangelo).
The Oltrarno means "Beyond the Arno" and is the best place to view of all Florence in its glorious splendor. To totally take advantage of this, you have to hike up a steep mountain to the Piazzale Michelangelo. It was quite a climb, but as the pictures indicate, well worth it.
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