We had an early (7:45 AM) departure from the ship to catch the shuttle bus to Florence.  I was really looking forward to Florence and had bought advance reservations to the Uffizi Gallery.  Unfortunately, when the day dawned, Adele’s cold was in full bloom and she just couldn’t make it.  Her problem was exacerbated by the weather forecast - cold & showers.
The shuttle arrived in Florence in a torrential wind and rainstorm.  I was well covered by my heavy-duty rainwear and stayed quite dry, although a bit chilly.  I had met a fellow on the bus who was looking for an Uffizi ticket and I offered to sell him Adele’s at cost.  Of course, he was more than willing.  After a cappuccino break (really good cappuccino), we headed for the Uffizi.  After a few false starts, we got in to the museum.  The Uffizi was excellent, with a lot of unique works, but still a bit of a disappointment.  The lighting was generally pretty poor and the paintings covered by thick glass which made viewing them difficult.  The photos of the paintings in my guidebook were much clearer than most of the artwork.  We spent a couple of hours at the museum and headed back outside, where the rain had mercifully stopped.
We grabbed a bite to eat (calzone for me) at a local stand and then headed first to the Ponte Vecchio, and then to the Duomo.  Both sites were very nice, but the dreary weather detracted from the viewing.  Since it was getting late, we grabbed another cappuccino (mmm, good) and headed for the group meeting place at Santa Croce Church.
Santa Croce was a nice church, but nothing spectacular for Florence.  However, since I like tombs, I had to go in (5 Euros).  In the church are the graves of Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Rossini.  It was quite something to see all these world-renowned figures buried in the same small church.

Florence Photos