This is where we stayed in Florence – the Casa Santo Nome di Gesu. It was an excellent choice; the rooms were spacious and the interior was beautifully decorated. The rooms were simple, not luxurious, but comfortable. The prices were low, and  the staff was quite helpful.

This is the waiting area near the front of the Casa. Note the high ceilings and the beautiful windows. These are characteristic of the whole place.

This meeting room was right around the corner from our room on the first floor. Note the high ceilings, the nice furniture and decor. It is a very comfortable, pleasing room. There are several other similar ones on both the first and second floors.

This is the main staircase in Casa Santo Nome di Gesu, the convent where we stayed in Florence.

This is the ceiling painting in one of the meeting rooms on the first floor.

This painting was hanging over our bed in our room at the convent Casa Santo Nome di Gesu.

Instead of a hotel, we selected a convent for our place to stay in Florence. We spent four nights at the Casa Santo Nome di Gesu, which was a simple but beautiful place to stay. This is a photo of their chapel.

Julia always needs her baby carriage, but she often doesn’t want to use it. So she gets carried, and somebody else gets to wheel the carriage. This time it was Steve’s turn.

It was a nice morning and the Arno crossing was especially beautiful.

This is a typical street in the central area of Florence. Several things to note:
– the architecture of the buildings
– the use of every possible inch of parking space
– the narrow width; and this one is more wide than most!
– the number of people walking; and this street is emptier than most!
– the absence of signs; it’s often quite difficult to learn what street you are on, or to locate a certain address
– the sidewalks; this street has really wide ones. Many times they are two feet wide, or less

Street vendors abound throughout central Florence, and displays like this one sit out on many sidewalks. I snapped this one near the entrance to the Ponte Vecchio.

This boar sits just outside one of the many market squares in central Florence. Tradition says that if you rub his nose, you’ll come back to Florence. So he has a shiny nose.

mugs in a shop window

Here’s the mob of people lined up to get into the Accademia so that they can see Michelangelo’s David, just as our tour group exits that museum. 

A perfect view of the Ponte Vecchio and nearby buildings from the next bridge down.

This is the shopping scene on the Ponte Vecchio. All of the shops on the bridge are selling jewelry and other precious items.

This is the only river view possible from the Ponte Vecchio. And it’s partially blocked by a row of plants.

Shop window in the Ponte Vecchio

Gasoline is very expensive in Europe, so bicycles and motorcycles are very popular. Unfortunately there are no lanes for them, so they are constantly weaving in and around cars and pedestrians, showing little mercy and less sense. Apparently it is almost as difficult to find a place to park your bike as it is for your car.

We saw many, many signs with the “eria” suffix. Any shop that sells anything can be a “eria.” A gallery becomes “galleria.” A pasticceria is a sweet shop. A place to buy perfume is a profumeria. A restaurant is a trattoria. You get the idea.

We visited this stone mosaic shop with our tour guide and they showed us how they use precious and semi-precious stones to make these beautiful mosaics. They look like paintings but they are actually all made of stone. The craftsmen were in the store, and you could watch them being made. The results are stunningly beautiful but very expensive. Joyce bought a little one. (I snapped this photo from the sidewalk before hearing that photos were not allowed.)

For a short period of time in the 19th century, Florence was the capital of Italy. During that time some major changes were made; most of the city walls were torn down, and they put up a triumphal arch (as seen in Paris) in their newly created Piazza de la Repubblicca. Within the piazza they installed this carousel (also like Paris).

Walking alongside the Santa Croce church we saw the first wheelchair we’d seen in Florence. Apparently Italians who have trouble walking just have to stay home. I was pleased to see a ramp – a rare thing in Italy – on the side of this church.

Tourists pass by the Duomo in Florence, Italy. It’s hard to get a picture of the Duomo – except for the dome on top – because it is so huge and the space around it is so narrow. Walking by it is an overwhelming experience.

Karen and I had lunch here just before our tour of the Uffizi Gallery.  I set my iPhone down on the table here and walked away from it when lunch was over. Less than a block away I missed it, went back and it was gone. I looked up and one of the servers handed it to me, without a word. I thanked her and left.

Doree, Jean, Steve, Kelsey, and Julia await their food at Le Fontecine restaurant in Florence.

Paul, Joyce, and Linda. The seat between Joyce and Linda was set for Bob Mulkey, our friend from Salem Alliance Church who now lives in Italy. He was supposed to meet us for dinner but didn’t make it because of the failure of Italy’s train system. Karen didn’t make it either, because of pain in her knee.

Dave and Doree at Le Fonticine

This was my dinner order at Le Fontecine. It’s wild boar, in a delicious sauce. On the right are sweet onions which have been marinated and are really sweet.