After leaving Pisa, which was near the coast we got back on the tour bus and headed to Florence which is quite a ways inland and up into the a more hilly terrain. There were lots of residential scale buildings, most with Stucco and stone walls and tile roofs. Both Pisa and Florence are in the region of Italy know as Tuscany.
Since not everything we went by on the road was picturesque I took a typical shot of a standard factory above and flat farm fields below. It is a little hard to see in that picture but there is a hint of low mountains (foot hills) in the background beyond the tree line.
Many of the houses out in the country were sited very much as a farmstead in the USA is with the buildings set off the road and fields surrounding them like the photo above. Other residential houses were near the main road and the fields were behind them, like below.
We did see a fair amount of evidence that the economy there was depressed like other places in the world. In the photo above is nice but somewhat older hotel/motel complex sat abandoned.
Once we got somewhat near Florence we were well above sea level and the land was relatively flat. The main crop seemed to be nursery stock, trees, shrubs, flower etc.
As we entered the outskirts of Florence we began to see evidence of typical urban sprawl, apartment complexes above, and harsh concrete water channeling devices (below) probably because they did not accommodate storm water once the permeable land was covered with impermeable roofs and parking lots. Run off from the developed lands would accumulate quickly during rain events and cause flooding. So they built walls to contain it. This area also is where high voltage transmission tower are located to accommodate the demand for more energy to feed urban sprawl. It's like a huge cycle, poor land management, over development, and stop-gap measures to prevent disasters. Europeans didn't figure it out until after we learned their bad behaviors and made the same mistakes. Okay I will climb off the soap box and get back to our vacation.
Closer in to the city center we began to see newer commercial development. My guess is this building was office space. Though this was a new building it was built using older looking design features. We began to see a recurring theme of big arches as we traveled the next few miles.
This Cemetery has a nice tall iron fence around it because there are so many Italian people just dying to get in there.
Getting closer to the older sections of the city we could see the streets beginning to narrow.
The bus finally parked along this road. To the right is the center of the old city center, to the left beyond the motorcycles and the wall is a river. The buildings in the distance on the left are on the far side of the river. Later on I found out that the river that bisects the city flows more or less to the southwest and goes through Pisa before dumping into the Mediterranean Sea. It's source is a series lakes north and east of Florence in the foot hills of the Alps. The building below was just to the right of the view above.
We headed off on foot with the guide to a central plaza where we would disperse and reconvene later on in the day.
After a several block walk we could see in the distance a plaza begin to open up. Note the white tower in the upper right hand corner of the photo above. as we got closer we could see that this was the facade of a big church which was at one end of a large plaza.
The plaza surrounded by dozens of similar buildings around three sides off to the left
Below a shot of the church which was at one end of the plaza to the right.
The steps wrapped around the building. We headed to a meeting place which was around beside the church and along the store front on the left of the picture above. One of the commodities for which Florence is famous is leather. So this seemed like a reasonable place to meet later on in the day.
After spending the morning in Pisa and several brisk walks we were ready for some food. We stopped at the first opportunity, which was a nice restaurant with outdoor eating.
From where I was sitting across from Karen I could turn to my right and take this photo of the church we had walked by earlier.
After lunch we did the "we were here" picture and headed toward the river. Later in the afternoon we would end up in the building which is in the gap between the plaza buildings below.
Along the way there was a nice fresco on the front of this building below, although it was a bit faded.
This is our first view of the river. In the distance up the Flume Amo (river) a bit is a bridge that looks like a covered bridge. It sort of is a covered bridge. Above my head in the photo below is that same tower we had seen back in the plaza. There are several shots of this covered bridge below.
We decided to walk across the bridge we were on and up the street on the far side of the river and then up to and back over the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Although from this spot the bridge looks like a covered bridge it is actually an open road way with narrow buildings on both sides of the bridge and some spaces actually cantilevered over the side. Originally the bridge was a place where butchers had shops. The hogs were walked to market taken into the shops on the sides of the bridge, slaughtered and the stuff that was not sold was thrown out the window into the river. I bet that was a lovely sight.
There were several of these type of bridges crossing the river, but this is the only one of it's type that survived the bombings during WWII. The design of the structure is quite unique and very interesting. You can see the arch way that allows a view up and down the river.
Here with a telephoto another shot of the central tower above and a couple of shots one down the river and back up the river.
Across the river shots of interesting buildings. In the photo below is a domed roof of a church that we would see later in the day.
Now on the far side of the river many of the buildings were less commercial looking at least for part of the way toward the bridge.
It was difficult to stop taking pictures of the bridge since it was so unique. Across the river there was a dock where several rowers were setting off in racing sculls
We were getting closer to the bridge and still more pictures.
Eventually we got to the commercial area at the end of the bridge and went looking for the access point of the bridge to head back across. There were some interesting streets that looked inviting, but with limited time we needed to keep going.
Here we are at the end of the bridge you can see the dome of the church in the distance above Karen's head. Clarice in blue and white striped shirt on the right is heading up onto the bridge. By the way they don't sell bacon and pork chops on the bridge any longer.
Almost all of the shops now sell gold jewelry.
Here is a spot of color amongst all the boring gold and diamonds.
Half way across the bridge is a spot where you can look out down and up the river
Beyond the bridge we headed toward the tower
Warning the next few photos are a bit graphic but that's art for you.
Above is a large open vaulted structure, adjacent to the tower structure, called Loggia della Signoria that is full of several 15th-17th century classic and very graphic sculptures.
Above is Rape of Sabine Women and below Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus.
One of the Medici Lions above and below Menelaus supporting the body of Patrolus
This bronze sculpture is particularly graphic. The mythical Greek hero Perseus holding his sword in his right hand and the head of Medusa in his left, while standing on the headless body.
The Rape of Polyxena
Now wasn't that a warm and fuzzy tour of gruesome aggressive angry art? And they say our TV programs and movies are too violent (and they are). Looking out into the Plaza the sun is warming up the color of the buildings across the plaza
We stepped out into the plaza and took a shot of the plaza filled with people.
We are now moving into the tower building, the Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) currently town hall for Florence.
It is a pretty fancy town hall.
Ceiling and walls are decorated with frescoes
An angry looking lion. The face below is also fairly intense. I guess if I was stuck on the wall squirting water out my mouth until my lips are rusty would cause me to look a bit stern as well.
We needed to move on through the plaza past significant bicycle parking and the fountain at the corner of the Palazzo Vecchio
As we walked along the narrow streets leading from the plaza I kept loosing track of Karen. I took this shot to illustrate that in some cases when she stood by a building in the shadows in that particular shirt she would almost blend in
On our way back to the meeting place we passed by this large ornate church
There were several open plazas that we walked by. Some were set up for a variety of entertainment features and other were street markets. We are looking at scarfs
I thought this was an interesting way to leave you bicycle. Apparently these had coaster brakes and could just stand with the peddle resting on the curb to hold the bike upright.
It was fairly common for some of the corners of buildings to have some elaborate features. Other than decoration I was never able to confirm why these were done.
We walked into this large plaza that featured this basilica above and this large church below
We got a couple of "we were here" pictures and then began to walk around the buildings looking at all the intricate details.
Off to one side of the plaza was this small column and a building that was constructed with much different materials than the rest of the building on the plaza.
The Basilica was separate from the church by several feet. It had an interesting shape and several elaborate doors. The one below was a bronze door sort of like the one we had seen in Pisa.
The Cathedral de Florencia took up most of the plaza site. The building was undergoing some exterior renovation, but the front of the building had already be restored and was quite nice. We did not have time to go int the building, but based on our experience with other Cathedrals we would have expected it to be impressive. Perhaps on our next trip we will have more time.
Just opposite from the entrance of the Cathedral above is another door into the Basilica. This one was actually made of Gold. It was almost impossible to get a good picture. There was always an Oriental person standing in front of the door getting their picture taken. The fence in front of the door was, I suspect, to keep people from pealing off a souvenir.
The individual panels of the door depicted a variety of Biblical stories.
After a while we had to hustle back to the meeting place to catch the bus. On our way leaving Florence we were driven by a high overlook. We were not able to stop but out of the bus window we were able to get a couple of quick views of the city. The cathedral below.
Another copy of the statue of David, this one in Bronze.
Looking out over the city you can see that we are at a elevation that begin to hint at the surrounding terrain. This is in the middle of Tuscany.
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