Florence makes my heart beat fast. For reasons which I’ve never fully understood, I feel actual love for this city, cradle of the Renaissance. I can’t get enough of it when I’m there; I ache for it when I’m gone. When in Florence, I rise with the sun and wander the streets just for the…
Tag: Florence
Christmas Lights in Italy
I Luci di Natale in Italia If a picture is worth a thousand words (mille parole), how many does a video cover? Find out by taking a virtual trip to Italy to see the Christmas lights, with three bits of footage culled from YouTube. Enjoy! Divertiti!  Two and a half minutes in Florence/due e mezzo minuti…
Book Love, Italiano
Thankfully this bookshop in Florence was closed when Daughter and I stumbled upon it this summer, or I may have ended up facing the dilemma of carrying several fragile books back to the U.S. without being damaged en route! Although I would love a couple of these for my collection… This simple display marries two…
Snapshots from Florence: The Ponte Vecchio
Il Ponte Vecchio “Water under the bridge” is a common English saying. In Italian one would say acqua passata non macina più, literally translated as water gone no longer roils. Regardless the language, the water under this famous bridge is the river Arno, which it has spanned for centuries. The Ponte Vecchio is one of my…
Art History Appreciation
Art is much more powerful when it jumps from the pages of a book and you can enjoy it face to face. We found Masaccio’s masterpiece, The Holy Trinity, sitting quietly inside Florence’s Santa Maria Novella church, a peaceful and cool oasis from a crowded summer day in the city. This work is considered “one…
Trovare
Trovare  (verb):  To find also: to locate, to uncover Unlike many Italian words which I have to look up over and over again in order to remember, trovare has always been easy. It reminds me of the word trove, as in treasure trove, which evokes the image of a treasure chest, and what does one do…
Sounds of Italia
Ciao a tutti — hello everyone! Yesterday marked my three-year blog-iversary and what would have been my beloved father’s 73rd birthday. I feel fortunate to have spent the day in southern Italy, in the heel of the boot, with his (our) cousins, carissimi cugini! It’s been an incredible three weeks in Italy. I can’t believe I’ve been…
Morning in Firenze
One thing I love best to do when visiting a busy city is to wake up with the sun and take to the streets while they are free of travelers and traffic. Here’s a few snapshots from Florence this morning, while the others slept and the sun’s rays were still gentle. Taken from the Ponte…
Palazzo Life
This Italian proverb translates literally to “in his house, each is king”, and is similar to the English saying “king of the castle.” I stumbled upon this little gatto at Florence’s Boboli Gardens a few years back, and immediately thought that he might be the luckiest cat in the world, living under the Florentine sunshine in the…
Strolling Mona Lisa’s Florence
This time last year I found myself waking up in Florence — strange for a Southern California resident — the chimes of the Duomo’s bells drifting through my open window. For me, every morning in Italy feels full of opportunity and ripe with undiscovered memories. But this particular morning promised a once-in-a-lifetime gift. On a whim,…
Prayers & Piazzas 