Florence Friday

Santa Croce
well it is nearly Christmas!
boom and indeed boom.

Florence Friday

After posting this image on redbubble someone suggested a crop and I agree, the tyre was distracting and although I liked the original balance of the image size, I do think this version is better.

Florence Friday

A quick snapshot from the evening we spotted more interesting graffiti. The entire shadow of the window grille had been outlined in pen on the wall! It must have taken ages!

Florence Friday

Following on from the tenuous links of yesterday's green post, Florence Friday features lovely Florence Mouse:

Florence is being sold in aid of Cancer Research UK along with a load of other cool items donated by Folksy sellers and if you fancy supporting the fabulous Children in Need today then go get your Christmas shopping well underway at the Crafteroo for Children in Need Shop where you can buy these:

Florence Friday

A peek at my Florence in Colour 2010 beautifully printed by redbubble and yours for just £14.95. Above is the frontpage, and below shows December 2010 and the backpage with all twelve images.
Ahhhh, Florence!

Florence Friday

Florence Friday

Florence Friday

Detail from the intricate wood carving on one of the huge doors into the vast Franciscan Church, Santa Croce.

Florence Friday

Archways of Pitti
Laura Cameron

Florence Friday

Santa Maria Del Fiore, at Night

Florence Friday

Last Sunday there was a collision of favourites: Kevin McCloud in Florence. Let me add to that Kevin McCloud in a Fiat 500 in Florence! Kevin McCloud's Grand Tour is on Channel 4 at 9pm on Sunday evenings and last Sunday we were treated to the wonders of the gorgeous Tuscan countryside, Florence and Rome.

What blew my mind was seeing the Vasari Corridor, something I had never heard of before. Built by Giorgio Vasari in 1564 at the order of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici the corridor is a secretive, covered walkway through the air. It stretches for over a kilometre from the West Gallery of the Uffizi, towards the river Arno, across the river over the Ponte Vecchio (on top of the shops!), through the interior of the Church of Santa Felicita, along the tops of houses and gardens, into the Boboli Gardens and then finally the Pitti Palace.

View from the Corridor out onto the Ponte Vecchio
check out more at Museums in Florence

An extaordinary construction, the corridor provided the Duke with a private walkway from his home, the Pitti Palace, to his offices at the Uffizi. An incredible thing! We've been looking over our photos and tracing the corridor on satellite maps and enjoying the excitement of another little bit of Florence being revealed. R's painting shows the corridor clearly and yet when he completed it neither of us knew about this fabulous passageway!

The "floating" Corridor emerging from the Uffizi and running along the Arno to cross at the Ponte Vecchio

Within the corridor are housed a grand collection of Art and, by arrangement, the public are allowed to visit, now can we afford to go back to Florence next year and have a look?

Let's hope so!

Florence Friday

The Cancer Research UK shop is filling up thanks to the lovely Folksy sellers and we've already had one sale! This morning I've added this trio of Florence prints:

Florence Friday

A much happier Laura greets you this Friday: I've handed in my notice on my temporary teaching contract so I'll be finished by half term, the Folksy folk are sending me loads of donations for the new Cancer Research UK Shop, we're nearly finished tarting up the house for valuation on Monday and we've had an offer conditionally accepted on a house many miles away near the sea! We don't think we'll get the house as we still have to sell up here but it's very exciting and we still have 14 more we like!

So, hopefully we'll be away soon and I'll have to think about my next job, once again perhaps I should turn to Florence for inspiration. . .

Florence Friday

Some weeks just leave you feeling like this . . .


from the Boboli Gardens and as, yet, I still don't know what's going on! If you know please enlighten me!

Florence Friday - Ceilings

The Last Judgement
Vasari and Zucarro
il Duomo

The Last Judgement - detail
Vasari and Zucarro
il Duomo

Santa Croce

Florence Friday

One from the archive this morning as I'm still in Northern Ireland without my own laptop. This little diptych shows two images taken by jumping up with my camera held aloft through sheer nosiness as I really wanted to see what was causing this lovely glow to emanate from behind the rails. A chandelier shop of course!

Duomo Candles

Florence Friday

A beautiful panorama from R this morning

Florence Friday

The cascading yellow roses from the Giardino dei Semplici, thousands of small but very full roses tumbled down a wall. I've put together this triptych just to give you a sense of the petite nature of these beautiful flowers.

Florence Friday

Back to the Giardino dei Semplice today with a photograph full of lovely contrasts. The sun was out and it was a lovely warm morning as we walked around the gardens, however, the sky swiftly darkened, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled and we hid under a group of trees while the rain splashed for a while. It was difficult to capture the intensity of the dark thunder cloud against the still bright buildings and flowers.

I've now got just Monday left at school before the glorious summer holidays begin! We're heading up to Northumberland next week and I can't wait! R gets to do the introductions and tour guiding this time!