F, F, AND P continued
We flew into Florence in partial clouds. It was humid and sticky almost the whole time, but nothing we could not handle (the hotels in both towns had air conditioning and we took 2 showers a day and siestas in the heat of the day). We actually paid very little for travel, housing and food which is a surprise since this time of year is the most expensive time to travel. I guess you just have to shop around because the moderate priced services are there waiting for you to find them. But places were so crowded-too many tourists this time of year!
Florence is dominated by the big three, the Campanile, the Duomo, and the Baptistry. It all looks so different different times of the day. It seems like every time I travel, something major is under wraps being fixed, and parts of the Duomo and the very top lantern were being worked on. But the pictures I took are still incredible, that impossible white, green, and pink coloring found all over Tuscany. On the train trip to Pistoia, we passed through Prato, the town where that green marble was mined and shipped to Florence for the construction 600 years ago.
We also got to see the Palantine Chapel at the Pitti Palace and admire the outrageous decadence of the Medicis and the Borgias. There was a wonderful show by the French artist Folon at the Palazzo Vecchio, but the palazzo was again closed as it was closed for reconstruction when I was there the last time. We went into dozens of churches, and I believe that nothing on earth is more beautiful than the main chapel, the Cappella Maggiore of Santa Maria Novella. I knew Ghirlandaio worked on it with Michelangelo, but I did not know that you feel totally surrounded by color, especially the reds and the golds, when you step under and among the works of art in this chapel. Also, the della robia ceramics and the marble and gold leaf of the Church of the Annuziata was almost beyond belief. It was not shiny gold recently restored, but old gold that made you feel its age.
We took tours all over on our double decker tourist bus. Most of my shots did not come out without Steves hat or tilted one way or another, but the sheer volume of what I shot makes up for it. Stay tuned tomorrow for more.
Florence is dominated by the big three, the Campanile, the Duomo, and the Baptistry. It all looks so different different times of the day. It seems like every time I travel, something major is under wraps being fixed, and parts of the Duomo and the very top lantern were being worked on. But the pictures I took are still incredible, that impossible white, green, and pink coloring found all over Tuscany. On the train trip to Pistoia, we passed through Prato, the town where that green marble was mined and shipped to Florence for the construction 600 years ago.
We also got to see the Palantine Chapel at the Pitti Palace and admire the outrageous decadence of the Medicis and the Borgias. There was a wonderful show by the French artist Folon at the Palazzo Vecchio, but the palazzo was again closed as it was closed for reconstruction when I was there the last time. We went into dozens of churches, and I believe that nothing on earth is more beautiful than the main chapel, the Cappella Maggiore of Santa Maria Novella. I knew Ghirlandaio worked on it with Michelangelo, but I did not know that you feel totally surrounded by color, especially the reds and the golds, when you step under and among the works of art in this chapel. Also, the della robia ceramics and the marble and gold leaf of the Church of the Annuziata was almost beyond belief. It was not shiny gold recently restored, but old gold that made you feel its age.
We took tours all over on our double decker tourist bus. Most of my shots did not come out without Steves hat or tilted one way or another, but the sheer volume of what I shot makes up for it. Stay tuned tomorrow for more.
posted by Sicilian Mama at 2:25 PM
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