Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

The Duomo, Florence, Italy

Love all the detail....

Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano

Skylight shadows, St. Peter's Basilica

Rome, Italy

All the photos I took in St. Peter's are dark and grainy.  Just possibly because no photo could do it justice.  It is jaw-dropping-ly beautiful.  There is artwork everywhere...the walls, ceilings and floors.

The skylights were my favorite.

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Arches

I think I'm having a love affair with arches.

Perhaps it is just Italian architecture in general.

Maybe I should incorporate some arches into the ramada....

Suitcase

My friend Teresa stands next to my carry-on suitcase 

in Bologna, Italy.

FYI, wheeled luggage doesn't work well on 

cobblestone roads and sidewalks!

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The Cloister

Il Chiostro at Chiesa di Ognissanti, Florence, Italy

The frescos are painted in the loggia;

they depict the life of St. Francis 

Sue, Amee & Teresa pose in a corner where the water damage 

from a flood clearly shows on the paintings.

The ruins

Bologna - my first day in Italy, bus from airport to downtown where we would later take the train to Florence. A long journey, 21 hours of travel at this point. We left my luggage at the train station and spent a couple hours walking around Bologna. The ruins caught my eye. I always seem to prefer the slightly decrepit. This is one of my first photos...

Rome, second to last day of my Italian journey. 

Again, the ruins fascinate me.

Especially these fallen chunks....

The Leaning Tower

First glimpse...

There she is...

leaning, but still standing after more than 800 years.

I remember learning about the tower in grade school...maybe first or second grade. But I never imagined having the opportunity to see it in person...it still seems a bit surreal. 

~~~~~

My mom wanted to come with me to Italy so

I brought her headshot...Sue poses as a stand-in...

~~~~~

Teresa & Amee made it to the top!

I can't even begin to tell you how many steps I had climbed by the time we arrived in Pisa....climbing the tower was not for me that day.

Door shadow

Shadows above ten foot Florentine doors

"Only the artist, not the fool. Discovers that which nature hides."

~ Filippo Brunelleschi.

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Tuscan farmhouse

Last week I had the opportunity to see an 11th century farmhouse; one of the oldest homes in Tuscany. Such a treat. The interior was low-ceilinged and smelled of wood smoke and mildew, coffee and furniture polish. The exterior smelled of flowers and freshly mown grass. This is the home of an American woman and her Italian husband, purchased as a falling down relic in the early 1970's and restored to a family home where children were raised and grandchildren now play. It is rather like a story book...and I am so glad I got to visit.

My friend Sue surveying the courtyard...

Pitti Palace

One week ago, I walked across a bridge over the River Arno in Florence, Italy, and down a few cobblestone streets to the Palazzo Pitti, former home of the Medici Family, now a museum featuring the Costume Gallery and the Boboli Gardens. Such splendor!