I visited the church of Santa Felicita today to pay a visit to the Pontormo masterpiece, The Deposition, only to find it is now being restored. Boo hoo, but it prompts me to seek out these other Pontormo paintings in Florence in the near future.
http://www.teladoiofirenze.it/arte-cultura/5-opere-per-conoscere-il-pontormo/
One of my favorite passageways in Florence is not well-traveled.
It is where you enter the Boboli Gardens from the the Bardini Gardens.
To do this, you enter the Bardini at Costa San Giorgio # 2, purchase a ticket good for both the Bardini and adjoining Boboli gardens, and enter the Bardini.
After enjoying this spectacularly-sited and maintained garden to its fullest (you will at least an hour), exit the Bardini and traipse across some back streets until you find this pictured below.
These signs let you know you are on the right path. After being lost for a little while, you will eventually spot the place where you may enter the Boboli.
You will immediately gain an interesting and entirely different vantage on the Boboli, so different than when you enter from the courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti. You will enter through leafy greens, and follow secretive paths with unexpected vistas.
For example, after walking for a little while in the Boboli, you will see this lovely little folly, where I’d be happy to live for the rest of my life if only Florence would let me. :-)
The perfect “green house” to my way of thinking!
At the entrance to the Boboli from the Palazzo Pitti is this wonderful, immaculate knot-garden. It is at its finest right now, when the eye is starved for the green and blossoms of spring.
A replica of the Palmyra Arch is currently on display in the Piazza della Signoria, bringing awareness to the senseless destruction of the original in Syria in 2015 by militants. It is an austere and chilling juxtaposition, this lost arch and Florence, which is lavished with attention.
For more information, see the following sources:
http://www.florencedailynews.com/2017/03/14/replica-palmyras-arch-unveiled-g7-florence/
No pictures today. Just real text.
Lately, what I’ve noticed about life, is this:
The Good: The Palazzo Medici Garden is open almost daily to passersby. I love strolling through this small but splendid garden almost daily. I like watching the ancient wisteria that has been severely pruned over the years attempt to put on its annual show. It’s rather sparse this year, compared to other wisteria vines in other parts of Florence.
But the opportunity to walk in the garden where the Medici walked. Astounding.
The Bad: Going to school to study Italian language in Florence has its ups and downs. The school is good, no issue there. But the numbers of young people from many parts of the world is a bit overwhelming, and so many of the students are so immature and dare I say it, superficial, that it gives me a headache. And then, when I am lucky enough to spot a person in school I can commune with, they leave. It is very transient.
The Ugly: The warmer spring weather has brought the tourists back to Florence in flocks. They can be seen in all of the historic parts of the center. I laugh when I see the tourists dressed in clothing that could only have been designed for a safari. Sometimes they carry walking sticks (I saw a woman with two yesterday) as if they were hiking the Alps rather than touring a civilized cultural European capital!
Only this word will do for describing the following: wisteria along the Lungarno.
Lilacs above.
Fiesole on distant hill
Piazzale Michelangelo in distance
Today it is the Richard Ginori store. A personal, unscientific contest. Visit the store and see if you agree!
And this picture is just of the boxes in which they pack the china!! What more can I say?
get back, lauretta! 
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