The Rambling Writer’s Italy, part 12: Highlights of Florence

Join Thor and me as we resume our 2008 virtual Italy vacation with previews of Florence, city of the arts.

NOTE: Since European travel is still tenuous with the pandemic continuing, I’m continuing my blog series offering a virtual vacation and time-travel to my first big trip with Thor in 2008. Italy! After starting with highlight photos posted here on Saturday, Jan. 30, I’ll now resume every week (after the blogging detour in real time to Hawaii). Join us in Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice, and Milan. Buon viaggio!

All right, making a major shift back from the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon of the Pacific on the island of Kauai, we’re time-traveling back to more cultural grandeur among the artistic heart of Italy in Florence. Above are the famous bridges over the River Arno, where we enjoyed a “Room with a View.”

Music, painting, sculpture, and architecture all flourish here. The main square, the Piazza del Signoria, displays impressive sculptures in bronze and marble. Cellini’s bronze Perseus with the head of Medusa:

Giambologna’s marble Hercules and the Centaur:

The 13th century Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore with its tower and dome, the fourth largest church in the world:

And the rather grisly fresco of The Last Judgement high inside that dome:

The heat wave continued, and just being near the elaborate fountains helped. I was smitten with a rakish satyr on the edge here:

New artists and old mingle here on the streets:

Parks in the hills offered shade and more pools and fountains:

And the street shops offered quirky sights like these well-dressed, stuffed piglets:

Thor was glad he’d decided not to rent a car.

Next week: more classic art, including Michelangelo’s David:

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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Cafe is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection.  It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?”  The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com