Duomo

Where: Florence, Italy
When: April 2011

View from the Duomo - we weren't even expecting to be able to get in, we had heard that the lines were out of control, but I guess early April is the time to do it! We decided to just wander by the Duomo, and see how long the lines really were. Much to our confusion, there were no lines. At all. So we decided that it must be closed. But then we tried the door anyway, and it was OPEN, and we walked into the Duomo, just like that.

It was very cool climbing the stairs, although the endless spiral got a little dizzying. At the top, there was a bottleneck at the only opening onto the roof, where there was a continuous stream of people coming down, preventing us from going up. Finally, an Italian teenage girl lost patience, marched past us, pointed and snapped her fingers imperiously at the people coming down and demanded that they back up and wait so that we could all go up. The very idea of being so completely self-assured and bold as a teenager boggles my mind, but we were delighted.

The roof was largely empty, and the view was incredible. I could have sat up there all day - there are conveniently placed marble benches all the way around. Definitely the highlight of the trip, for me.