Italy
Florence panorama
Birthplace of Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Renaissance itself, Florence is a beautiful city of around 360,000. This is looking across the Arno from Michelangelo Plaza.
Arno River, Florence
Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence
...from across the Arno...
ItalyFlorenceBasilica di San LorenzoarchitectureSt. Lawrence Church
Neptune Fountain, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
The old guy seems distracted, or maybe incredulous.
ItalyItaliaFlorenceFirenzeNeptune FountainFontana del NettunoPiazza della Signoria
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
The museums of Florence were ablur with flowing people. The "real" David is now in the museum after standing outside for about 350 years.
Duomo, Florence
...Basilica of Ste. Mary of the Flower, popularly known as the Duomo and structurally completed in 1436. The façade dates from the nineteenth century.
ItalyItaliaFlorenceFirenzeBasilica di Santa Maria de FioreDuomoBrunelleschiRenaissance architecturede Fabriscathedral
Dome of the Duomo
Taking sixteen years to complete, Filippo Brunelleschi's dome is one of the most impressive feats of the Renaissance, built without a temporary supporting structure. People ringing the cupola lend scale.
ItalyFlorenceBrunelleschiIl Duomogothic Renaissance architecturemajordomo
Baptistry door, Florence
...one of three sets of bronze doors to the octagonal baptistry across from the Duomo. It was completed in 1128. These are the east doors, by Lorenzo Ghiberti, called the "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Ghiberti and his assistants spent 27 years on them in the 15th century. (These are reproductions; the actual Ghiberti doors are in the Duomo museum.) John the Baptist is the patron saint of Florence.
ItalyFlorencebaptistry doorsBattistero di San GiovanniLorenzo GhibertiItaliaFirenze
Republic Square, Florence
Strange... I don't remember the carousel spinning like a top.
ItalyItaliaFlorenceFirenzePiazza della Repubblicacarouselbetter hang on
Grand Canal
The waterways of Venice were a blur of activity, this from the Ponte Scalzi.
ItalyVeniceGrand CanalVeneziaItalialong exposuremotion trailsPonte Scalzi
St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace
Taylor is visible sitting on the steps at center, wondering if I'll EVER come on. She and Linda often went in a different direction from me, all the better not to slow them down, i.e. shopping. At least one of those two X-chromosomes houses the shopping gene...maybe both...
ItalyVeniceSt. Mark'sBasilica di San MarcoDoge's PalacePalazzo Ducaleshop 'til you dropthe more you spend the more you save
St. Mark's Square
The winged lion atop the column (also in the previous frame) is a symbol for Mark, the patron saint of Venice. St. Theodore stands on the other one. The two columns were erected in the 1260's and made a symbolic gateway into the city.
ItalyVeniceItaliaVeneziaPiazza San MarcoSt. Mark's Squarewinged lionSt. Theodore
Doge's Palace
Bridge of Sighs
This connects the Doge's Palace to the prison, enclosed to prevent a prisoner leaping into the Rio del Palazzo. From here would be his last glimpse of beautiful Venice before imprisonment, hence the name. Perhaps he would here be inspired...
ItalyVeniceDoge's PalaceBridge of SighsRobin TrowerPonte dei SospiriPalazzo DucaleRio del PalazzoItaliaVenezia
Ponte Scalzi and San Simeone Piccolo, Grand Canal
...from the Hotel Bellini... looks like a chase scene from "The Italian Job". About a half-dozen of the other photos here were made from the bridge. The church was completed in 1738 after twenty years construction.
ItalyVenicegrand CanalPonte ScalziSan Simeone Piccoloneoclassic architectureHotel Bellinilong exposuremotion trailsItalian Job
mass transit, Venetian-style
...il vaporetto...
synchronous gondoliers
...which would be only slightly sillier than some sanctioned synchronized endeavors...
ItalyVeniceVeneziaGrand CanalgondolasPonte Scalzisynchronicity
Impression, Gondo
...with profuse and fervent apologies to Monet...
ItaliaItalyVeneziaVeniceGrand CanalPonte ScalzigondolaClaude Monet
Grand Canal
Taylor, Grand Canal
gondolas under bridge
It must be criminal to come here and not ride a gondola, but I couldn't get Linda or Taylor into one. Like I told them, men are from Mars and women from Venice. This is Linda's favorite of the Italy photos.
Chiesa degli Scalzi ("Church of the Barefoot"), Venice
Santa Maria di Nazareth, completed in 1680, is long associated with an order of barefoot Carmelite monks.
ItalyVeniceSanta Maria di NazarethChiesa degli ScalziCarmelitebaroque architecturelong exposureponte scalzi
Grand Canal from Ponte Scalzi
...looking NE...
ItalyItaliaVeniceVeneziaGrand CanalPonte Scalzilong exposure
Grand Canal from Ponte Scalzi
...looking SW...
ItalyItaliaVeniceVeneziaGrand CanalPonte Scalzilong exposure
Olimpia Bar and Caffe and Hotel Bellini, Venice
The lady leaning on the cane is what I like about this one.
Venice shop window
One of them resembles George W. Bush as a court jester.
Venice panatteria window
Is this food porn? Maybe it's difficult to define but you know it when you see it? You already know the food was terrific on this trip. I must have consumed a half-million calories but lost five pounds, which prompted me to tell Linda that I just may write a combination diet/travel book: "How to Eat Your Way Through Italy and Around Paris...and Lose Weight!". Obviously you have to stay active, and constantly lugging twenty pounds of cameras and gear, though probably insane, did keep the metabolic rate elevated. (Just kidding about the book; with the surfeit of diet AND travel books extant, it must already be out there somewhere.) I didn't try anything pictured here, but if you truly are what you eat, then with all the gelato and cookies and chocolate-this and lemon-that, I surely came home a much sweeter guy. My two shopaholic, returned-with-one-more-stuffed-suitcase-than-they-left-with, gourmet traveling companions would study menus and decide where we would eat each day. One restaurant in Rome, owned by a family from Capri, and two in Paris were so good we had to go a second time.
Sorrento, Gulf of Naples, Mount Vesuvius
...notice the difference in haze level with the frame that follows this..
Sorrento, Mount Vesuvius
Vittoria Hotel, Sorrento
