Many of the little side-streets reminded me of Venice, except with traffic. Mopeds are just as common here as bicycles are in Munich, most likely because a lot of Florence's streets are narrow.

Packed weekend markets.

Apparently it is prohibited to lie down here.

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's town hall, overlooking Piazza della Signoria. Impressive!

Ponte Vecchio is a famous medieval bridge crossing the Arno River lined with gold and silversmiths' shops. The rear of the shops hang over the bridge as can be seen here.

Hahaha, bugger!

Salami anyone?

The huge Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral (Florence Cathedral) - the main church of Florence. This monster took around 150 years to complete, and its terracotta-orange dome (the largest brick dome ever constructed) dominates the Florence skyline.

Obviously, the cathedral is also huge on the inside, and bloody impressive!

This is looking up at the underside of the dome. More amazingly detailed mosaics!

Hehehe!

The best panoramic views of Florence can be seen by climbing to the top of the 114-metre-high dome (it's a good workout if nothing else), and they really are fantastic! This is looking north over the city.

Replica of Michelangelo's David, probably the most famous sculpture in the western world. We saw the original in the nearby Galleria Dell'Accademia but photos are prohibited for some dumb reason.

View of central Florence as seen from Piazzale Michelangelo. Too bad about the weather.

Looking further up the hill behind Piazzale Michelangelo. I would've loved a bike and some sunshine right about now!

This shot gives a good idea of just how much of a lean the tower is on. The angle of tilt is currently 3.99 degrees to the south.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, standing at 56-metres high and completed in 1372. The city of Pisa itself is a quiet little place with a population of around 100,000, and nothing of interest other than its infamous tower. The tower's tilt began during construction due to poorly laid foundations on ground that was too soft on one side to support the tower's weight. The tilt gradually increased over time, and computer models show the tower should have toppled around 1990. However, engineering teams moved in to stabilize the tower and partially correct its tilt.

Dodgy black fellas with cases full of watches were wandering around trying to sell them to passersby. At one point a cop car cruised past and they all closed up their cases and hastily merged into the crowd hehe.