stillLUV2go

Day 13 - Our optional excursion is a road trip through the Tuscan hillside. TUSCANY SIENA & SAN GIMIGNANO Stand on the edge of a hilltop town, view the vineyards and rolling hills, get lost down a medieval street, duck into a cheese shop, have another scoop of gelato. Advice from ourescapeclause We will travel by bus from Florence through the Tuscan hillside as we make our way to the little towns of Siena and San Gimignano with a wine tasting stop along the way. SIENA A peek inside the cathedral. Ten Reasons to Visit Siena https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/10-reasons-to-visit-siena-italy/ Siena Cathedral https://youtu.be/PvqVHYWS900 Siena Cathedral https://youtu.be/KBSMSdQDdas Rick Steves Backstreets of Siena https://youtu.be/HtNjMXvWboY GIMIGNANO Enjoy this video of Gimignano Rick Steves' Gimignano https://youtu.be/yGdS0T19BbI Photo credits in order: 1. http

Day 11, 12 & 13 Exploring Florence Santa Croce - Basilica of the Holy Cross "The vastness, the lightness, the open spring of the arches, the beautiful shape of the high and narrow choir, the impression made of mass without weight, gravity without gloom -  these are my frequent delight." Henry James Known for its pure Gothic style, famous works of art and historical importance, it was begun in 1294 near the site of an earlier Franciscan church.  Designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, it was consecrated in 1443.  At that time, the Franciscan mendicant order was obliged to live an ascetic life without personal belongings, so they were dependent on generous donations from wealthy families. It was also these wealthy families who funded and donated the extensive works of art that decorate the interior of the church as a way to secure a prominent burial site for themselves inside Santa Croce. In time, Santa Croce became known as a pantheon of important figures, fine arts, mu

Day 11, 12 & 13 - Explore Florence Ponte Vecchio - Old Bridge "Dante was standing near the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that crosses the Arno River in Florence.  It was just before 1300.  Dante saw Beatrice standing on the bridge. He was a young man, she even younger, and that vision contained the whole of eternity for him.  Dante did not speak to her and saw her very little. And then Beatrice died, carried off by plague.  Dante was stricken with the loss of his vision.  She was the connection between his soul and Heaven itself, and from it the Divine Comedy was born. Six hundred fifty years later, during World War II, the Americans were chasing the German army up the Italian Peninsula.  The Germans were blowing up everything that aided the progression of the American army, including the bridges across the Arno River.  But no one would blow up the Ponte Vecchio because Beatrice had stood on it and Dante had written about her.  So the German commandant made radio contact wi

Day 11, 12 & 13 - Exploring Florence Piazza della Signoria "More than any other piazza in Italy, the Piazza della Signoria evokes the antique world, not only in the colossal deified statues - the David, the Neptune, the hideous Hercules and Cacus, but in the sober Loggia, with its three lovely full arches and its series of statuary groups in bronze and marble.  Some are antique Greek and Roman; some are Renaissance; some belong to the Mannerist epoch; one to the nineteenth century.  Yet, there is no disharmony among them."   from The Stones of Florence 1959  Piazza della Signoria is located halfway between the Duomo and the Arno River and represents, together with the Palace, the heart of Florence's political life.  The square is L-shaped and is the place where every day thousands of tourists meet to visit the Uffizi Gallery, the Fountain of Neptune, the Loggia della Signoria and the centuries-old Vecchio palace and more. Palazzo della Signoria  Also k

Day 11, 12 & 13 Exploring Florence Baptistery of San Giovanni & Florentine Campanile  "My Beautiful San Giovanni!"   It was 753 years ago that Dante Alighieri wrote of his baptism in Florence's beloved baptistery.  He was not the only famous Florentine to be baptized here.  Navigator America Vespuci, historian and poet Niccolo Machiavelli and Grand Duke Cosimo l de Medici were baptized here.   In fact, until the end of the 1800's, the baptisms of all Florentines took place under the golden dome. Proudly standing on a podium right in front of the cathedral is Florence's famous baptistery.  Believed to be built over the ruins of a Roman temple dedicated to Mars back in the 4th-5th century A.D., it was consecrated as the baptistery in 1128, making it the oldest religious monument in Florence.  Today, only young children can be baptized here. The Baptistery, dedicated to Florence's patron saint,  John the Baptist, has an octagona

Day 11, 12, 13  Touring Florence "To see the sun sink down, drowned in pink and purple and golden floods, and overwhelm Florence with tides of color that make all the sharp lights dim and faint and turn the city into a dream, is a sight to stir the coldest nature."  Mark Twain Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore - Cathedral of St. Mary the Flower Brunelleschi's Dome, the Nave, and Giotto's Campanile of the Cathedral  as seen from Michelangelo Hill.   Back in the 13thC, the task of building a cathedral that would rival the ones in Siena and Pisa and also reflect the importance, wealth and extraordinary power enjoyed by Florence began with Arnolfo di Cambio. Several centuries and many artisans later, the cathedral, Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, did not disappoint.  The dome, which dominates the exterior, was added in the 15thC on a design by Filippo Brunelleschi.  The dome was considered one of the most significant architectural achievements of the entire Renaissanc