Florence

Florence, or Firenze, really surprised me. I was not sure of what to expect when we visited it. I knew it was one of the major renaissance cities in Italy, so I was prepared for art and museums. What I found was more though. To explain…We found out that a lot of the city would have roads blocked when we were there, as the World Cup cycling race was being held there during our stay. Part of me went … uggggh…. more people! What impressed me were the local people I met.  The first evening I was walking about and was trying to orient myself with a map, and a well dressed man offered out of the blue to help… in such a neighborly and friendly way. It really made me feel welcome and at home.

Now, one thing you have to say about Firenze is that everything is BIG! Most of the doors are at least 12-16 feet tall. And most open the full height as well!

And marble was the norm for walkways…. I don’t think I’ve seen so much marble in my whole life! The majority of the streets were stone blocks, about 1 x 2 feet in size (yes, that’s my foot in the picture to give you some perspective of their size).

Our apartment’s living area and ceiling detail.

One of the main “markets” where you could buy almost anything in leather. And I couldn’t resist taking a picture of one of my favorite style of “trucks” that was set up to sell roses on a street corner.

We took a walk along the Arno river, and saw some rowers. I thought the graffiti was inspiring, and true (makes you think, because of what you are reading too ).

The next two days were full of sight seeing and shopping. We went to the Duomo, and I took a bicycle tour of the old city (which included churches on the other side of the river due to the cycle race blocking access to the regular route). These deserve their own posts as I took lots of pictures doing them! Those posts will be up next!