florence

Florence

May 16th, 2007 by alephnaught

Florence

We slept well – it wasn’t so noisy last night (it is during the day) so we’re keeping the room. We ate, cleaned up and got out of the room. We started walking towards a couple of jewelry stores Aviva likes; she’s been here enough that she doesn’t need a map to find a few […]

June 23rd, 2005 by alephnaught

The Jews of Florence

Title: The Jews of Florence From the Origins of the Community up to the Present Author: Roberto G. Salvadori Paperback: 95 pages Publisher: Editrice La Giuntina, Florence, Italy, 2001 ISBN: 88-8057-124-9 A good short book describing the history of the Jews in Florence. There were lots of ups and downs for the Jews in Florence […]

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June 20th, 2005 by alephnaught

God and Money

Title: God and Money: Florence and the Medici in the Renaissance Author: Richard Fremantle (Leo S. Oleschki Editore) Paperback: 66 pages Publisher: Casa Editrice Leo S.Olschki (December, 1992) ASIN: 8822239393 We bought God and Money in the upstairs bookstore at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. This book discusses the struggle between money and the Church […]

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Amsterdam and Florence

June 15th, 2005 by alephnaught

Amsterdam and Florence

This trip was a last minute holiday set up to follow leadership training I received at Duin & Kruidberg in Santpoort south of Amsterdam (yes, this is my fifth business trip to Amsterdam this year – you can look at other pages in the travelogue to see where I’ve been). ABN AMRO employees call Duin […]

April 8th, 2000 by alephnaught

Fiesole

When the weather is clear and warm, you must take the number 7 bus from the train station out to Fiesole. Fiesole is an old town (it dates back to the original Etruscans that settled before Firenze existed) on a hill that overlooks Firenze. Its small and charming. We ate at Ristorante Aurora overlooking Firenze […]

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April 7th, 2000 by alephnaught

Around town

We did the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, which was another Medici residence. There is a dynamite chapel upstairs in this building with a full-surround frescoe in exceptional condition. The frescoe tells the story of the Magi, with various real-life participants (including a portrait of Lorenzo Medici) and vivid color. We went back to the toy store […]

April 6th, 2000 by alephnaught

Shopping and the Cappella Branccaci

What’s a trip it Italia without shopping, so we shopped in the morning. Then, after a delightful lunch (they almost all were), we went back to see the Cappella Branccaci. This is a large chapel across the Arno river from the main part of Firenze. The most famous work inside is Masaccio’s Expulsion from the […]

April 4th, 2000 by electricbob

Art day

Today we did the Uffizi; the word uffizi means office, and it was the office of the government of the Medicis in Firenze. They have a whole room of Botticellis, who is one of my favs. The square inside the Uffizi is packed with artists selling their wares (we bought a small watercolor of the […]

April 3rd, 2000 by alephnaught

How many churches can you see?

We decided to skip a side trip of three days to Siena and stay on in Firenze. We crossed the Arno (the main river in Firenze) on the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge that once housed butchers but now house gold and silver smiths because the odor of meat upset a Medici (the Ponte Vecchio […]

April 2nd, 2000 by alephnaught

Duomo and Santa Maria Novella

Our hotel is a very short walk from Santa Maria Novella, an old church right by the train station. There are some fine images on the walls of this church, whose square was dedicated in 1287. Below is a detail from one of the works. The Duomo is the center of Firenze and its huge. […]