Florence 2

 Tuesday, October 7

FLORENCE

The buffet ...

... breakfast.

No roti canai.

See the people who come ...

... camping here.

They drive luxury cars. 

Whoever ...

... thought ...

... of ...

... this ...

... idea of camping in town ...

... is a genius!

Seriously ...

There's no way I'm ever

 gonna go camping

the traditional way ...  

... after this!

No entry sign.

We turn in here ...

... and just follow ...

... the path ...

... and admiring ...

... the little huts on the ...

... left and right at the same time.

Continue walking straight on ...

... till you see Tent No. 589

on your right.

Turn right in.

Our tent is ...

... right here.

Taking a short break before

 walking out to the bus stop.

We are going to the city today.

(Shortly after ...)

At the bus stop.

Saw some olives ...

... hanging over the fence ...

... at the bus stop. 

Can you see a whole

bunch of them?

In the bus.

At the privileged seats.

We are -- entitled.

We got off the bus.

The Duomo is ...

... just right ...

... in front ...

... of us. 

Gasp!

The Florence Cathedral ...

... or the Florence Duomo.

Or Duomo di Firenze.

Stop what you're doing ...

... and just marvel ...

... at the magnificense of it all.

The official name.

Cathedral of Santa Maria

del Fiore.

Some history facts.

Arnolfo di Cambio,

was the architect who started

the project in 1296.

(Dome by Brunelleschi.)

(Bell Tower by Giotto.)

1296!

Can you imagine that?

A structure built that long ago

 is standing before you

 in all its majesty. 

This has got to be one of the

most unbelievably ...

... spectacular sight we

have ever set our eyes on!

Remarkable ...

... beyond ...

... words.

The construction took

140 years to complete.

1296 - 1436.

We are in awe.

Remind me to get ...

... my souvenir keychain

from Firenze.

That's the Giotto's Bell Tower.

An architectural

marvel.

This bell tower

is considered ...

... the most beautiful

bell tower ...

... in the whole of Italy.

Its grandeur as a ...

 ... Gothic and ...

... a Renaissance ...

... masterpiece ...

... makes this ...

(local street artists)

... phenomenal Duomo ...

... a majestic ...

(more talents here)

(Line of visitors)

(Any free entrance?)

... and ...

... a ...

... stunning ...

... iconic structure ...

... that dominates ...

Florence.

We see a horse here but

we're not sure what this

horse is about.

Check out the shape of this

famous feature.

This colossal dome,

was designed by

 Filippo Brunelleschi.

After taking a hundred and

one photos at the Duomo,

we were finally ready to

move out of its

overwhelming presence.

Ah.

Here is a ...

... cosy cafe.

Look at the arches.

Strolling ...

... around ...

... the ...

... area ...

... and ...

... soaking in ...

... the charm ...

... of Firenze.

What a solid door.

Looks like it's 

bullet-proof.

Okay.

So ...

a bit of confusion here.

You're gonna see ...

(simply ...)

(... irresistible!)

... photos of the Duomo again.

That's because ...

... we are using ...

... two handphone cameras ...

... and transferring photos

 from one handphone

to another, somehow

messed up the sequence of

 the photos in my photo-gallery.

See what I mean?

Don't get me started.

After strolling away from

the Duomo ...

... we are back here again.

Never mind.

Look!

A nice-looking carriage.

The Duomo again.

Looks like

we just can't get ...

... enough of this 


- ASTOUNDING -


structure!

Ah.

Let's resume our walk.

As I was saying ...

... we were ...

... exploring ...

... along ...

... the ...

... surrounding area ...

... we happened to pass

a little church

with its doors wide open.



Free entrance?



We walked in. 

Mass was just about starting.

In Italian.

I curi-curi took this photo.

That's why it looks like this.

No time to zoom in

on the Priest.



Anyway ...

we sat down and allowed

 ourselves to be consumed

by everything that was

going on. 

We participated as much

as we could.



Then something interesting

happened.



Towards the end of the mass,

Father was giving his

 closing speech.

So at one point,

as the Priest was giving

his blessings,

I thought he had

asked a question

(He was speaking in Italian).  

He had paused ...

looked around ...

as if waiting for an answer ...

but nobody responded.



Then Father said ...

(in English)


"Is


 there


 anyone


here


who


does


 not


understand


Italian?"



Bryan raised his hand ...

all the way up.

No hesitation.

I was impressed.

I raised mine ...

just half way up.

Another two persons on the

 right of Bryan also put up

their hands.



The Priest then spoke

in English for our benefit.



He said :



"This is a special blessing ...



(I can't recall what he said after

that but his words were

just very normal ...

nothing unusual was

 happening.

Then, suddenly, he said ...)



"Nothing is impossible ..."



Pause.



Omg.



What?



Did he just say,



Nothing




is




Impossible?



I turned to Bryan.


I mouthed the 


O


M


G


slowly.



Bryan grinned.

We exchanged a secret,

knowing smile.


Seriously ...

What -- was -- that?

That's the priest on the left.

He came down to speak to

a lady sitting on that pew.

Unbelievable.

Only 2 phrases we got from

 the whole Italian mass.

"Special Blessings"

And

"Nothing is impossible ..."

The name of the church.

We attended the 1.30pm mass.

That's the church.

Directly opposite is

the main (big) church.

The main church is on the left.

We were on the right.

A smaller chapel.

Walking on ...

How cute ...

... is this clock shop.

For chess enthusiasts.

Leather bags.

Made in Italy.

More gelato.

Chic handbags.

Palazzo Vecchio.

1298 - 1314.

The town hall of Florence

and a historic palace.

Moving ahead ...

... we walked passed ...

... this area.

I feel like I should know

the name of this structure ...

... but unfortunately,

no name is appearing

at the time of blogging.

The Palazzo delle

Assicurazioni Generali.

In Piazza delle Signoria.

Built in 1871.

Generali is one of the world's

 leading insurance company.

We have found our way to

The Uffizi Gallery.

Uffizi is the greatest

art museum of the world.

It is famous for masterpieces

by artists like Botticelli,

 Leonardo da Vinci,

and Michelangelo.

Outside ...

... the ...

... museum ...

... there are ...

... also artistic talents.

The crowd is ...

... waiting to get inside

the Gallery.

The Uffizi overlooks the

Arno River.

Moving on ...

... there is ...

... so much to see ...

... around us.

This street is ...

... has many ...

... jewellery shops.

Taking a break.

1920?


12.


21.


Nice.

This is Palazzo Pitti.

It houses important ...

... collections ...

... of paintings ...

... sculptures ...

... and pieces of art.

These buildings in the

 background are facing directly

 opposite the Pitti Palace.

Palazzo  Pitti's 

first owner was

 Luca Pitti.

15th century.

Followed by :

Medici Family 

House of Lorraine

House of Savoy

Napolean ...

... used Pitti Palace as ...

... a residence ...

... and power base...

... during his conquests

in Europe.

Today, the palace was donated

to the Italian State by ...

... King Victor Emmanuel lll

in 1919 and is now a state

 museum complex.

Walking on.

Chess piece.

Actual castle. 

They are ...

... into lemons.

Lots of lemon glassware in Italy.

And gelato at every corner.

To Piazzale Michelangelo.

Chiesa di San

Niccolo Oltrarno

Going up to the hill.

The view of Florence.

The weather has been amazing.

Climbing higher.

People come up here to have a panoramic view of Florence.

Our handphone cameras ...

... don't do justice to its breathtaking views.

Souvenir shops in the square.

A replica of

Michelangelo's David.

1873.

There is a ...

... church at the top of the hill. 

With this, we are ...

... done for the day.

 Let's light a candle.

Souvenir from Firenze.