The annual international exhibit of handicrafts, foods and many other things to buy is being held this weekend at the old Medici Fortenza just down the street from us. We wandered over this morning and spent a couple of hours browsing and buying (a little). Then we were off on our first train trip, to lovely Lucca. The beautiful city park surrounds the entire old town atop the medieval city walls. It was truly lovely with the Spring-green trees and flowers. The annual plant sale was going on in the piazza where we had a nice lunch. Some purchases were made on our slow stroll back to the station for the train that brought us back to Florence about nine o'clock.
I HAVE SET UP A NEW PHOTOBLOG SITE FOR THE 2014 TOURS. YOU CAN STILL SEE PHOTOS FROM 2008 TO 2013 HERE. TO VIEW THE LATEST TOURS GO TO: WWW.INTUSCANYWITHPATRIZIA.BLOGSPOT.COM
Florence and Fiesole Today - April 25
Today was a national holiday - Liberation Day in Italy - celebrating the 1945 freedom from nazi/fascism in WWII. As we walked to the river we encountered a parade featuring a band and some men in Renaissance costume. We took a look at the gold shops on Ponte Vecchio and ended our orientation walk back at the residence before beginning our afternoon jaunt all around the city and up into the hills to visit Fiesole. Our transportation was via the open-top hop-on-hop-off bus complete with a taped guide so we could hear about the sights with our earphones. We enjoyed a nice lunch and walk-around in Fiesole. We hopped off our tour bus again at Piazza Michelangelo where there were amazing views of Florence. The weather was springtime fine as we had a great tour - enjoy the pics!