Florence and Tuscany

Hello again! After our lovely visit with family and

friends in London we met Barb and Shaun and their good

friends Janet and Jeff in Florence, Italy. Derek and I

arrived earlier and walked around the city. I quickly

remembered why I fell in love with Florence the last

time I was there, 15 years ago. The city is amazingly

stunning and so full of mind-blowing history. Just

to think that Dante, Galileo, Michelangelo, da Vinci,

Raphael and Donatello all came from this region and

all worked in this city is pretty impressive. This is

going to be a long one because we took over 300

photos and I could not decide which to leave out and

and which to leave in. There were too many good ones!

Enjoy!

We began our walk in the Piazza della Signora. This

is the Palazzo Vecchio. It is a 13th century palace

that is still the city's town hall. I think this puts most

town halls to shame.

We stopped at a cute cafe called Cafe Riviore for

food and wine. Mmmm, my first glass of Chianti in

Tuscany. This cafe sits across the piazza from the Palazzo

Vecchio with amazing views of Tuscany's grandest, most

beautiful square.

Mmmm, fresh pizza...



Of course the beautiful Ponte Vecchio! It is the city's oldest
bridge and the only one that was not destroyed in WWII
because Hitler liked it. It dates back to 1345 but the shops
along it have been selling since the 12th century.



A shot of the Uffizi looking back at the Palazzo Vecchio.
The Uffizi has been an art museum since the 15oos. It is
one of the world's greatest museums and boasts the world's
best collection of Renaissance art.


Another shot of me and the Ponte Vecchio. Today,
most of the shops along the bridge are gold and jewelery
stores. No wonder Derek wanted to walk away from the bridge.
Just a pretty picture along the Arno River.

We stopped at the Basilica di Santa Croce. Derek

was dying to go in and see the graves of Michelangelo
and Galileo. I forgot my pashmina so I could not go in.

A statue of Dante sits outside of the basilica.

This is what Derek went in for Michelangelo's

grave...

and Galileo's grave.

This is just one of the many wonderful things

about Florence. This is a random stone pillar

outside of our hotel. It is so ornate!

The next day we were off to Siena. Siena and Florence were

huge rivals back in the 1500s. Siena dominated the medieval

trade route between France and Rome. The city at that time

had Italy's richest banks, rivalled Florence's might and art

patronage and had it's own constitution. This is a Europe's

oldest bank.

Siena never fulled recovered form the Black Death,

which took the population from 100,000 to 30,000

in 1348. Now, the medieval character of the city is frozen

in time.

Siena is known for the most major festival in Italy,

the Palio. It is horse race and medieval pageant which

takes place in July and August.

Next stop was Il Duomo aka Santa Maria dell' Assunta.

The artists in the 12th century set out to create a dramatic
facade in Romanesque and Italian Gothic style.

The interior is amazing with the alternating colored

bands of marble. Over 40 leading Sienese artists created

56 designs on the floor. Donatello and Michelangelo also

created statues for this Duomo.

This picture does not do this room justice. It is the room

created to house the library of Pope Pius II. There were never

any candles allowed so the smoke never damaged the frescoes.

They are still as bright and colorful as the day they were painted.

It was such a treat to see what all frescoes would have looked like back then.

Simply brilliant!

Next stop - espresso on the Piazza del Campo.

This square was first laid out in the early 12th

century on the site of a Roman forum. It is

dramatically shaped like a sloping scallop shell

or fan.

Shaun and Jeff filling up their water in the

square. It was HOT!

Another shot of the Piazza del Campo. This is also where

the horse race during Palio takes place.

In the Palazzo del Campo.

Our next stop was my favorite of the whole trip.

We visited an organic farm/vineyard. This

place was a B&B, restaurant and working organic

farm. There was even a swimming pool. I wanted

to stay.

We all know what these are for!

The place was stunning.

Derek and I over looking the vineyards.

Fresh olives anyone? They were not yet ripe enough

to pick. Harvest is in November and it is one of the

best times to visit Tuscany because of all of the

fresh olive oil in the food.

Now we are in the wine cellar

A beautiful shot of the countryside. If you look

closely you can see the town of San Gimignano

on the hill in the upper right hand corner.

Next, it was time to eat! We had freshly prepared

organic food all from their farm. The bread and olive oil

alone were fantastic. Barb and I are sampling the

white wine produced on the farm.

Shaun and Derek are trying out the red wine. Our pasta

dish was a veal ragu with tomato sauce. Amazing - and

all from the farm.

After a tasty meal we all posed for a photo with

the farmland in the background. Janet, me, Derek,

Shaun, Barb and Jeff, the whole gang!

Another beautiful picture of the Tuscan countryside.

Next it was on to San Gimignano. They call this town the

medieval Manhattan because of the tall towers that can be seen

from a distance.

San Gimignano is Tuscany's best preserved medieval

town. It's defence system once was encompassing more

than 70 towers of which about 13 survived. This is the

outer wall of the city.

Here we are again strolling the beautiful streets of

San Gimignano.

This is the Piazza della Cisterna, named for its

13th century cistern. It is lined with 13th and 14th

century buildings.

A few of the remaining towers

Yep, Pisa was our next city. Pisa enjoyed great maritime

influence bcause of its harbor at the mouth of the Arno

river. During the height of its power is when the Duomo

and the Leaning Tower were created.

We could not pass up the great photo op here.

The Leaning Tower was started in 1173 and

continued until 1350 with two interruptions.

It leans 14 feet today and does so because of the

sinking subsoil in the area. It was from here that

Galileo dropped balls of different masses, disproving

Aristotle's theories about the acceleration of falling

bodies.

Some yummy fresh Tuscan treats being

sold on our walk to the Leaning Tower.

Back in Florence now, we stopped to take pictures of

the Duomo at sunset. This building is massive and beautiful.

It was the biggest cathedral of its day and still ranks fourth in size.

Most of the construction took pace between 1294

and 1436 but the neo-Gothic structure was not complete

unitl the 19th century. The facade is a ploychrome

jumble of marble stripes in sugar cane colors.

The building simply captures your attention immediately.

We were lucky enough to get to walk by it almost

every night on our way back to the hotel.

In the Piazza della Signora again, this is The

Fountain of Neptune.

This is the statue of Hercules and Cacus on the

right side of the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio.

It was meant to compliment the David.

This is Bevenuto Cellini's Perseus holding the severed

head of Medusa.

Another shot of the Piazza della Signora.

This is a copy of Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines

in the Piazza della Signora.

Hercules and a copy of the David flank the entrance of

the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signora.

A great shot from the end of our street

where the hotel was.

This is a picture if the original Rape of the Sabines

in the Galleria dell' Accademia.

And last but not least is Michelangleo's David. It is

one of the best examples of Michelangelo's humanism.

He worked on the David from 1501-1504.

You are not allowed to take pictures here anymore but we

all know Derek's view of rules - they are made to be broken -

and so here it is.

These are the "Gates of Paradise" by Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Michelangelo actually first hailed these doors with their

current name. These are a copy, of course, and the original

are inside the building which is the Duomo Museum.

We finished out the day with what could quite possibly

be the best gelato I have ever had, at Florence's famous

Gelateria Vivoli. I highly recommend the tirimisu gelato.

My mouth is actually watering thinking about it. Good

thing it is not close to home!

Our final day was for climbing the the dome

of the Duomo. It is 351 ft off the ground and some

say climbing it is one of the great joys of visiting

Florence. You must walk up 463 stairs for the view.

I beg to differ - it is not the number stairs that scared

me -it was the fact that during your "climb" you are let

out into the top of the dome on a little ledge. Yeah, me and

heights don't get along so well so I graciously bowed out after

about 300 stairs and being on a ledge suspended about 300

feet in the air. No thanks!

Here is Derek at the top over looking the beautiful

city of Florence. I did forget to mention the breath-taking

frescoes painted inside the dome. Still - I can see it in a picture.

Next, we took a stroll over the Ponte Vecchio to see

all the gold and jewelery. The boys sure crossed it

rather quickly.

This is the Piti Palace. It is a 15th century palace

built for the Medici family and is second only to the Uffizi

in its wealth of artwork.

This is the entrance to the Giardini di Boboli. It was laid out

between 1549 and 1656 and is the grand Renaissance garden

of Europe. Unfortunately, like many other things in Florence it

was closed on Monday. We will just have to go back!

We liked the anger in this fountain at the Piti Palace.

Another view of the Ponte Vecchio.

The bell tower at the Duomo. This building is

so massive that we could not get it all one picture.

Now, it was time to end our wonderful trip. I was sad to

be leaving my sister but so excited for them to experience

more of Europe. We had such a balst with Janet and Jeff and Barb

and Shaun. We hope they will come visit again soon! Miss you!

Love to all,

Leah and Derek