Photos of Florence trip, Oct 06- main

Main Page: Florence, October 2006

Welcome! Thank you for coming to see my photos....

As the summer slipped away, I decided to treat myself to a touch of Tuscan sun before surrendering to the dark, cold, early nights of England's northern latitude.

Thanks to the price/ location information available at Travelocity and Expedia, I found the Viva Hotel Pitti Palace, Borgo S. Jacopo, pittipalace@vivahotels.com where I had (Oct 06) a very agreeable stay. If you cross the Ponte Vecchio southwards, and veer slightly right just as you leave it, you will be at the entrance to the hotel. (It is the first building you come to). Good rooms, and the restaurant near the top of the hotel has nice views over the heart of the city. North facing high rooms are of course "choice", but my high east facing room had a nice view, too. I've only included this "plug" because I liked the hotel, would stay there again.

This picture shows the Arno, which I crossed and re-crossed many times each day, often seeing someone out rowing.

Of course, the city's great art treasures are a major reason to visit. This is the street between the two arms of the Uffizi. At the top is where Michelanglo's David stood for many years. The Uffizi offers the organised timed entry tickets, so I didn't have to spend time waiting in a queue. There was an exceptional temporary exhibition about Leonardo da Vinci. I was successful in revisiting Rosso Fiorentino's "Musical Angel", which I came across by chance on my first trip. It has remained a favourite of mine for years. On my second visit, I was disappionted to miss seeing it again.

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Besides the Uffizi, there is also the Bargello, which specializes in sculpture. It is housed in a palace which was once home to "police"... many years ago when being investigated could be more tramatic. The palace was a very secure place. This well meant convenience and meant that they could bar the doors for extended periods, if need be.

One of the Bargello treasures. Another is a "David", for which the model may have been a 19 year old Leonardo from Vinci.

At the Pitti Palace. Note the people on the left, to give you an idea of the scale. They are a little farther away from the camera than the fountain... but not much.

I took part of a day to travel down to Pisa. Not only fun to see the tower, but there were other nice things, too. And remember, it was from this tower that Mr Galileo dropped things in his quest to understand gravity.

This is the ceiling in the cathedral only about 30m from the tower....

... and this is at the front of the same cathedral.

Back in Florence... view from the top of the hill behind the fountain seen earlier.

Back in Florence. Inside Mr. Brunellesch's dome, along the long climb to the top. Built in 1436, and yet remained one of biggest in world for centuries... It is still the largest masonry dome.

View to SW from top of the dome.... On my trip to Florence with Bill Spencer and friends, we stayed in a hotel in the big square in the foreground. (Hotel faces W, is on north end of that side of square.)

Another view from the top of the Duomo, this time to the SE. The church in the upper right holds the remains of Michelangelo, Galileo and Rossini... and an empty tomb, ready for Dante's remains, if the people of Florence can get them away from the people of Ravenna!

Looking east along Arno

My first attempt with Serif's Panorama Plus! You can also see this in greater detail. (The version I've posted on the web is compressed compared with the version on my hard drive.)

Click here for some photos of a really gorgeous antique map which I treated myself to as a souvenir... and one of my (too) rare attempts at art investment.

Click here to visit page with photos from a trip to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu, October 2001.
Click here to visit page with photos from a trip to Botswana and neighbors, November 2004.
Click here to visit page with photos from a trip to Costa Rica, December 2004.

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