Florence –
What a beautiful place! We arrived here
yesterday by train, after two transfers that took us to Bologna and Milan. It was nice to see the countryside, but this
was a really roundabout way to get here.
We were met by Christine, the charming woman who owns the apartment
where we are staying for the week. It is
in one of the old buildings with shutters on the windows, but it has been
modernized inside without losing any of the charm. There are two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a
kitchen and living/diningroom. The view
at the front is the Arno River.
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| View from the window |
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Flat Stanleys waiting for the train to Florence
Today we
walked into the main part of Florence, where we saw the magnificent Duomo, a cathedral
which was started on the site of a Roman palace. The present building was constructed between
the 5th and 7th centuries. It is covered with a beautiful design of
white and green marble, which is in the process of being cleaned. It is amazing to see it before and
after. Heather was not content to just
stand back and admire the buildings. She
had to climb the bell tower!
 
After
admiring the Duomo, we wandered through the streets, some of which were filled
with vendors of all kinds of neat stuff, most of it actually made here in
Italy. I bought a lovely large leather
bag, and John bought a pair of running shoes to replace the ones he has walked
through on this trip. We are planning to
visit the museums later in the week, and there will be some side trips from
here too.
Once again, everywhere you look, there is another marvellous sight!
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