We had covered a lot of territory in Florence on our first full day in the city.  So even though we had been out shooting at six in the morning we were all raring to go and try some night photography.  Little did we know just how many steps and how far we had to walk carrying all of the camera gear to get to our destination and then all the way back to the hotel  again.  

We finished eating dinner before 7 PM and started walking along the river.  The plan was to cross over one of the bridges to new territory and climb up to a vantage point where we would be over looking the city.  However  we stopped first to take some photos of the river.  One can never have enough pictures of the river!

The skies were looking a little threatening but fortunately it ended up being a very nice night.    

Miles later (ok I'm exaggerating just a bit) we climbed up a series of stairs(and from memory there were a lot of steps) to the Plazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square).  This is a famous square with a terrific panoramic view of Florence.   The square was built in 1869 on a hill just south of the historic centre.  At that time, Florence was the capital of Italy and the whole city was involved in an urban renewal or "rebirth" of the city's middle class.   On the photo above  you can  see in the distance  the  Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, the Bargello and the octagonal bell tower.   I will have a close up picture later on.

My panoramic view of Florence..  

This shot was taken looking away from the river.   You can see all of the haze in the background.

You can see the bridges crossing the Arno, including the Ponte Vecchio.  The lights of the city had not yet come on.  

A closer view of the Ponte Vecchio.

A view of the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, the Bargello and the octagonal bell tower.

This was one of the last shots of the night.  I was working on long exposure pictures.  All this means is that you keep the camera's aperture open for a long time in order to let the light in.  In this case I used about 30 seconds.  So now I have completed the story of  my first full day in Florence. The good news is that I  still had 12 full days to go.