After the magnificent Field of Dreams, the rest of the city is a bit of a letdown. It's pleasant, though a bit empty feeling downbeat. That is partly explained by its long history of decline, since the current population is only a fraction of its size 800 years ago. We stumbled across a lively food market lining the alleys close to the river, and pulled an ad hoc lunch together from the various stalls, complete with a nice bottle of local wine.



Like Florence, the Arno river cuts the city in half, leaving the other half almost empty of tourists. The rivalry between the two halves comes alive, however at the annual festival. The two teams line up on the connecting bridge, a giant cart between them, and they try to run the other side over with the cart. What fun!

After the Uffizi, we wandered around the city for the rest of the afternoon. Here are some photos of the Arno River (plus some ink stain that got on our scanner and ruined a lot of the photos in the next few entries). Behind Somchai are the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi. The opposite bank is mostly residences, and generally ignored by tourists with the sole exception of the Pitti Palace, which we visit later in the week.