Mark and Ita go to Europe 2014: Florence (Firenze)

We've been in Florence for the last few days where it's been pretty hot. Florence stands for "flourish," as in flourishing during the Renaissance.

Florence from afar

Florence, like a lot of Italian cities and towns, was surrounded by a stone wall for protection and has a Duomo in the center of the town, which we used as our landmark to walk our way back to the hotel. There are many churches, galleries, and chapels. The Santa Croce Church (see below) houses the remains of notable and influential men, such as Galileo, Michelangelo, Marconi, Fermi, Rossini, and Machiavelli. Speaking of Machiavelli, we went to his villa and were treated to a wonderful banquet there -- we even saw the desk he used to write "The Prince." The city is pretty gritty and you have to watch out for pickpockets and many illegal counterfeiters who try to sell you fakes, etc. The food in Florence is fantastic, and it has been fun to eat pastas made by those who know how these meals should be cooked. In the museums, we saw Michelangelo's "David" and other artworks. In all, Florence is a mix of the very old and the very modern -- the fortification stone walls and centuries old villas and shops with their very narrow alleys and stone roads are partnered with the Italians' passion for automobiles, motorbikes, fashion and smart phones. By the way, I am so very grateful we are not driving in Italy -- I think I've figured out their secret to success - once I stopped closing my eyes and bracing for accidents, I could see that the drivers and motorcyclists have no concern about personal space - they will skim along side anything and everything to get themselves from point A to point B - it could be right next to massive touring buses, dodging and weaving through crowded pedestrian crossings, or jumping around bumper-to-bumper traffic - no matter what, they all believe they can invisibly speed by you, which it appears they can!