Firenze

One of the many apartments of the Medicis in the Pitti Palace. This is a ceiling

We were off to a great start in Firenze after a bad night in Bologna, the city of red due to all its red bricks. I especially hated the train station with all the helpers wanting money. I stood in line forever to make train plans for three days, fun in all Italian. We stopped for lunch in a place that might have been our best meal yet in what appeared to be a dive but I had to pee that moment..we were going to eat there regardless. Thinly sliced eggplants for eggplant parmigiana, ribbolita, their special bean cabbage soup, pasta carbonata, wine. We did get lost trying to find our B and B but it was very nice with a huge communal terrace complete with Leopoldo the parrot and a kitty who made a beeline for my lap. A nice place to drink wine and relax after 2 busy days of sight seeing. Also a drying rack for us to put our laundry up. The bidet and little Tide parcels came in handy.Unfortunately for us, the only day of rain was this morning.ok as we were going to be inside at the Pitti Palace, bad for our laundry.

The Duomo

Duomo at night

Pitti Palace

Ham shop next to our restaurant or maybe it was part of the restaurant..again, our best meal

Lots of money for fancy clothes

Blurry Steve in the yellow room

Santa Maria Novella, right near the train station in Florence

Leopoldo, the resident parrot who can fly . As the terrace is open, the neighborhood birds come to steal his food which makes him squawk

The famous golden doors of the bapistery, which was covered in scaffolding. They at least had the doors uncovered

Pitti Palace detail

fountain in the Oltrarno near our lunch place

lots of Rafaels

The Martyrdom of Saint Agatha: she was tortured by having her breasts crudely removed. God then sent an earthquake  while they were attempting to burn her at the stake. St. Peter restored her breasts. She is sometimes depicted carrying her breasts on a platter.

all inlaid stone pieces, not just painted