There’s a shop in the center of the city that sells the very coolest home decorations ever. I love the color emerald and so my eye was automatically drawn to this current display.

I’ll take everything in green, per favore!

The objets in pink and gold are also nice. So, wrap them up too.

Nowadays in Florence there are groups of tourists throughout the calendar year. It used to be only certain months, but since Covid, it never seems to stop. This group, following their guide like ducklings after their mother, serves as an excellent example of the type.

A few blocks over I ran into this lovely young woman who is my classmate in language school. She had just picked up her 3 year old daughter from preschool. Aren’t they lovely!

A Goth clothing store was being guarded by 3 ferocious dogs, also quite goth despite their diminuitve size. I wonder, did the owners choose these dogs for their goth coloring, or was it a coincidence? Comment below and tell me what you think!

Below, just because the font is handsome and it is a very cool number:

Walking by a street corner that I’ve walked by at least 100 times or more, I noticed for the first time this plaque which tells us that a valiant partisan died here in 1944, killed by the Nazi-Fascists. Oh, the painful memories this city bears, like so many others in Europe.

Translated by Google:

Not far away is a tabernacle, memorializing another human atrocity, the crucifixion of Christ. The attached label identifies the century in which this work was painted as the 17th. Again. Wow.

From the serious to the ridiculous. I had the opportunity to feel this feeling below this week. It didn’t make me happy, but it was necessary.

And finally, some very French news:

What a brass door knocker! On a wooden door with magnificent grain.

The patterns made by the vines are so beautiful to me.

Details, details, and more beautiful details.

This church, made from concrete, always arrests my vision. I don’t like it, but I can’t ignore it.

I love the name Villino Emilia! I’d love a Villino Lauretta. Maybe? Someday?

Hope springs eternal.

Below, a new French cosmetic line called Juliette has a gun. What a crazy name.

Another door knocker. Less well cared for. Still beautiful.

I took a tour of some studios in the artisan’s zone, the Oltrarno, in Florence.

Our first stop was a bronze worker’s studio. You will see him and hear him talk in the video.

Walking down the Via Maggio to out next visit, I passed a shop with the largest most amazing Murano chandelier!

The second visit was to a shoemaker whose family business extends back to pre WWII. The current owner/designer is Valentina Rangoni. She has her designs ready for you to buy and/or she will make custom shoes just for your feet!

I took some pictures of her shoes that would be so nice to wear!

In a few weeks we’re returning to the scene and visiting more workshops.

Many people flock to Vivoli for gelato and they always have as far back as my first trip to Florence in 1979.

Dupre was a 19th century sculptor whose work I studied extensively as a graduate student of art history.

One of things I enjoy seeing as I walk around this historic city is the way builders over the centuries have gone to the trouble of saving and REVEALING details from previous older buildings. The history is there, speaking to us. You just have to listen.

Look at the work that went in to saving and showing this ancient decorative detail.

In other places, the classic has been modernized, but it still lives on with us in our daily lives. An example is this neon colored version of Botticelli’s Venus, which hangs a dozen yards away in the Uffizi.

You know that I am always distracted to look at modern design and the way it is threaded into the urban fabric here. These lamps are beautiful!

Or, if you like, you can pay a visit to the museum of serial killers in Florence. I must admit, I’ve never been! Never will go either.

An odd collection of sculptures in this unused shop window caught my eye.

Here’s another example of a really old building covered in modern stucco, but large portions of the earlier structure shine thru.

And finally, an oldie but a goodie: the House of Michelangelo on Via Ghibellina. I walk by it almost daily going to and from the center.

But wait, one last detail of some pretty marble framing average windows.

And the city is gearing up for Christmas!

Starting the day in my favorite bar, with my favorite beverage

Look at how prettily these stemmed glasses are aligned.

Walking down my neighborhood street and beguiled by poetry, simply posted on a random wall in this amazing citta.

Xoxo

Passing a local upholstery business, I see the proprietor working in the back of the shop.

I admire the work he creates!

This chair has tons of personality!

Gliding down a street in the center, I pass another of the uncountable tabernacles in Firenze. It’s unfortunate that it’s almost impossible to see some of them behind the glass.

Nearby is its label. It was painted in 1953, which I happen to know was an excellent year in the history of the world.

Stunning in its simplicity is the elegant design chiseled into the marble that frames the niche.

Further down the street quietly sits this ornate carving above an ordinary Florentine doorway.

A detail:

In my language class I was introduced to a poet about whom I want to know more, more, more!

My horoscope from yesterday. May it be absolutely correct.

And to end, look at this stunning photo of a guy I know and his lovely mother, Monique. Che belli!

Buon venerdi a tutti!

Above and below: two friends and un chien I happen to like. I miss them when they are not around.