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Published: October 25th 2006
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The ship docked at Livorno but our tour for today is a trip to Florence. As we headed east toward the hills of Tuscany, the countryside along our drive was covered with many farms growing nursery stock. We could see rows and rows of shrubs formed into different shapes. Then there would be rows and rows of trees of different heights in containers. It was quite a different sight. Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Florence lies on the Arno River and has a population of around 400,000 people, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000 persons. Our first stop was the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore known as The Duomo because of the huge lanterned dome that was built using a revolutionary method. The method was later copied at St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London. Outside the Duomo is the Campanile or Bell Tower with classical straight lines that contrast with the curves of the dome. Across the plaza is the Baptistery decorated with white and green marble and with beautiful doors sculpted
with a series of bronze panels.
A walk through the streets past the market place and we end up at the Ponte Vecchio. Florence’s most famous bridge was home to the medieval gold and silver guilds. This bridge is one of the few bridges over the Arno River that was not destroyed during the Second World War. From the Ponte Vecchio, we followed the river to the Uffizi Museum and Gallery. We did not have the time to tour the Uffizi but it is well known as one of the great Museums of Europe with an incredible collection of Renaissance Masterpieces. Street venders are required to have a license issued by the city. Early in 2006 the city passed an ordinance that authorized substantial fines for selling without a license, including a provision that the person purchasing from the vender was also subject to a fine. I am not sure how you are suppose to know who is legal and who is not but our guide warned us to be very careful who we bought from. While we were walking down the way between the Uffizi museum and the Gallery, we heard some shouting in front of us. Very
soon we saw a young man running toward us with a folded cardboard in his arms. Behind the young man was a uniformed police running and shouting for the man to stop. About the time they were opposite us, the police made a running dive and caught the young man around the shoulders. They both crashed into a parked car and the car alarm started to blare. The folded cardboard the man was carrying flew open and spilled a bunch of prints into the street. After handcuffing the protesting young man, the officer pulled out his cell phone and proceeded to call for assistance. They were still arguing as we continued walking toward the Piazza della Signoria. The square contains a copy of Michelangelo’s David, many other statues and the Fountain of Neptune.
From the Piazza, we walked to the Church of Santa Croce that is the final resting place of Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo. The Church of Santa Croce is not as impressive as the Cathedral but is a beautiful church built in the 14th Century. We decided we had had enough walking and it was time for our “Coffee Americano” at a nearby restaurant. While we sat
and enjoyed our coffee, we observed the crown in the square. There were quite a few venders with their stands and displays that seemed to be doing a lot of business. We also noticed a number of young men with “cardboard folders” propped open and filled with prints of various sizes, both black and white and color. As we watched, all of a sudden they would gather their prints, fold them inside the cardboard and nonchalantly wander away. They did not go far and within five or ten minutes they would be back with their prints displayed. At one time I counted nine of these venders with their cardboard folders under their arms scanning the crowd. I had to presume they were all illegal venders.
It was time to leave for the bus again. We will be driving to Pisa as our next stop on the way back to the ship.
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