Although the streets are virtually empty, Florence still beguiles with her Christmas decorations. The extravagant Via Tornabuoni is a lovely sight to behold.

Let’s indulge in a little fantasy window shopping, shall we? Starting at Chanel.

I swear, if you look closely at the mannequin in the Chanel window, it promotes anorexia big time. Does anyone actually think this is attractive? Shame on you Chanel!

Moving on, Moschino has a pink dress I would actually wear!

Pucci is my hands down favorite, today and every day!

The outfit below is wearable, and I adore the fluffy tulle collar of the blouse. See the detail below.

And what holiday is complete without a stop at a famous pasticceria, all done up for a party!

Hands down, my favorite holiday decoration in Florence this year is this spectacular light installation by Marinella Senatore at the Palazzo Strozzi. Love, love, love it!

And while I was walking about the courtyard at the Strozzi, this incredible gate to the interior of the palace caught my eye. My, my, what a Renaissance palace we have here!

Bellissima!

I took a stroll through the Giardino on Friday, Dec. 11. It was a refreshing, cool afternoon, and some flowers were still blooming, some koi were still swimming, and the garden is bedecked with a lovely Tannenbaum.

I love the work of Blub, the anonymous Florentine street artist!

“Although we can find ourselves in a sea of ​​difficulties, in life we ​​always have the resources to learn to swim. Art is one of these resources.” Blub.

If you want to learn more about this mysterious artist, see http://tianakai.com/2014/12/street-art-florence-interview-with-blub/.

Enjoying the Cascine park recently, I happened upon this monument to George Washington. I had never noticed it before.

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Not far away, smack dab in the center of the park, is a bus stop with, for an American, a very memorable name: Kennedy.

Few of us, I believe, will be sorry to see 2020 come to an end. I certainly won’t. I am hopeful that the new vaccines will eliminate the Covid threat over the next 6 months or so, and we can begin to live a life similar to the one we used to know.

But, here in Tuscany, I’m simply grateful we are out of lockdown. There are still many, many restrictions, but as long as we can walk freely, I’m good.

On the 2nd day of the less locked down rules, I took a very long passeggiata that took me to the Cascine, where I enjoyed the waning autumn colors. This major European park is a treasure indeed, as you will see in these pictures as well as in some other posts I’ll be writing soon.

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This Medieval city is so photogenic, it’s hard to stop. Please enjoy another point of view on Florence at Christmastime.

Well, needless to say, Florence is different this Christmas. We in Tuscany are now in “zone orange” which gives us a lot more freedom to enjoy the city and the city made a valiant effort to decorate itself for the holidays, but there are fewer decorations than in years past. But, Via Tornabuoni is completely turned out and a joy to see!

Here is a virtual tour for you!

Please join me on a virtual window shopping escapade, through the tony section of this great city. First stop: Chanel:

I don’t know about you, but the scrawny mannequin seems to me to promote anorexia. Who would want to look like this?!

Moschino has a pretty pink confection that I would actually wear.

Bit. for me, hands down, Pucci always wins the day. I love, love, love this summer dress and head piece.

This Ferretti outfit is attractive and the fluffy tulle collar is delightful!

And, what window shopping escape is complete without a stop for a warm beverage and sweets. Gilli is adorned for the season.