Florence

I left the 3-D live postcard, Venice, for Tuscany, and my first stop was Florence. I stayed in Lorena, a hotel room with shared bathroom. It costs only 35 euros, but the service was excellent. The building was old, but it has a retrofit elevator, that can fit one skinny person and one luggage. It was pretty good. The room was bright, clean and hipped!

It was a rainy day that I arrived. I had to visit the Duomo, the Basilica di Santa maria del Fiore. It was in my architecture history book, and it is a huge building. From many pictures, the exterior was gray, yet this actually has a lot of green and pinkish color.

This church is the main gathering place for religious activities, and surprisingly, unlike many other churches, it is surrounded by many office buildings, so the piazza in front of the church is very small. It was hard to get a good shot of the building.



Then, I went to my second favorite place that I always saw in postcards, Ponte Vecchio. It is a medieval bridge over the Arno River. It has shops and residence on both sides along the bridge.

I like the naturally beautiful and soothing color scheme. When Napoleon attacked Florence, he saved this bridge because of its beauty.

Upon arrival to the mid point of the bridge, I enjoyed the view of Arno River.

The roads are very narrow in the city center, so I walked the entire time. From the hotel to this bridge takes about 30 minutes, and there were a lot to see along the way. "Women's street" type of vendors and markets were everywhere. Leather goods were everywhere, and I regret that I did not get any....