While Florence is a city of big-hitter sights (the Duomo, the Uffizi, the Accademia), it is also a city of winding streets and picturesque piazzas. A city of hidden gems, street art and welcoming bars and cafés. A city of churches, of monuments and markets. In short, it is Italy.
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I am less than keen on November. The weather is rarely pleasant, though we did get a couple of crisp sunny days. I have to admit though that we still had plenty of autumn leaves on many of the trees though most are now bare. And there were even quite a lot of flowers, at least until the first frost bit.
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If you could choose a superpower, what would you opt for? Many of us, I think, would choose the ability to fly. Haven’t you sometimes watched a bird ride the thermals and wish that you could do the same? Or looked down at the earth from a plane and wish to be able to enjoy such views all the time?
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On our recent visit we stayed just around the corner from the Piazza di Santa Croce. It became the starting point for several of our walks and the focus of our evening drinking and dining. By day and night the huge basilica, the largest Franciscan church in the world, dominates its eastern side.
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There is nothing ordinary about a leaf. There is so much variety in their shapes and textures, and in their colours of course, especially (but not only) in autumn. They are endlessly satisfying to photograph because of those textures and shapes just as much as for their colours.
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I think many of us are drawn to the mysterious. We like to wonder about things only half seen. And we all share a sense of curiosity. In fact, humans evolved to explore the unknown, because doing so helped us survive; to find food and shelter, and to learn how to adapt and thrive.
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Cathedrals often dominate their cities but I’m not sure I have ever seen one do so to the extent that Florence’s Duomo does. Although relatively hemmed in by other buildings, it towers over them. Any viewpoint over the city, whether from one of its towers or from the surrounding hills, will make this obvious.
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Photography, especially black and white photography, is all about light and darkness, and balancing the two. Too much of either and the photo is at best dull, at worst incomprehensible.
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We had spent two days in rather unsettled weather exploring the various sights of Florence, sights I will come back to in future posts. But when the sun appeared on our third day in the city it was time to see it from a different perspective, the far side of the River Arno.
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Opinion is very much divided on the topic of street art and graffiti. Some dislike it all, regardless of the skill (or lack of it) of the artist. They feel it disfigures a cityscape, rather than enhances it. Others love it for its rebellious nature, again regardless of the skill (or lack of it) of the artist.
