Florence

Florence

March 22nd, 2009 by alephnaught

Florence

We got up a little later and haven’t rushed around this morning; its Sunday and so most things open later today. Walked by a funny window for lingerie (apparently a big seller in Florence given how many shops sell it here). There were some kids using pastels to draw copies of famous art works on […]

Prato and Florence

March 21st, 2009 by alephnaught

Prato and Florence

We got up pretty early, got cleaned up and are ready to take the train to a couple towns outside of Florence. Its another cold day but at least today it looks mostly sunny. We took a train from Santa Maria Novella to Prato. Prato is the home of biscotti, the famous hard, twice-baked cookie […]

Florence

March 20th, 2009 by alephnaught

Florence

We both took sleeping pills; this is one of our tricks to switch timezones, stay up as late as you can and then take a sleeping pill to help you sleep through the night. We got up and had breakfast; the hotel has a great buffet breakfast including fresh eggs and bacon. That little girl […]

Florence

March 20th, 2009 by alephnaught

Florence

We woke up much too early and ran ragged all day. After breakfast, we walked by a painted facade and decided to shop at the open market near Piazza Republica. It was really cold (it only got into the 50sF and was really windy) so Aviva bought some purple globes and I bought some half […]

Arrival in Florence

March 18th, 2009 by alephnaught

Arrival in Florence

Our flight from LAX to Paris was delayed an hour. When we got on the plane, we realized that they didn’t seat Aviva and I in aisle seats across from each other. We were across the plane from each other, and worse, we were in the last row, which meant we had less legroom, less […]

Florence and our return to Rome

May 21st, 2007 by alephnaught

Florence and our return to Rome

Today we had no plans – our train leaves at at around 5PM so we can walk around as we want for a few hours. We decided to go to the Palazzo Vechio, the old palace of the Medici and the seat of the city government. But, on the way, we bought yet another ceramic […]

Florence

May 20th, 2007 by alephnaught

Florence

We got out a little late and went to the Museo del Bigallo across from the Duomo. This was originally an orphanage; women could leave babies outside – if they came back within a week, they could take their baby back, otherwise it was put up for adoption. Then we walked past the Duomo and […]

Florence

May 19th, 2007 by alephnaught

Florence

Today we started walking towards the Orgnissanti. We stopped at a print shop from which Aviva bought a print of grotesques the last time she was in Florence – unfortunately, no small ones so we passed. We went into the Orgnissanti, which has works by Ghirlandaio and Botticelli, who is also buried there along with […]

Florence

May 18th, 2007 by alephnaught

Florence

We were going to go to Pistoia today, but we decided we’d moved around enough. And, we didn’t sleep well last night – getting to bed (for us) late due to the noise outside didn’t help. We’re changing rooms today to move to the rear of the hotel – not a nice view but much […]

Florence

May 17th, 2007 by alephnaught

Florence

After breakfast, we started walking towards the Museo Horne, an art museum near Santa Croce. The museum has a number of interesting works, including a Giotto. We then had lunch at Trattoria Il Bargello, Borgo dei Greci 37/r; it wasn’t anything to write home about. Then we shopped a bit – Aviva bought more angels […]