Siena

From Florence, we took the bus to the medieval city of Siena. Wandering in the streets and savouring an ice cream on Piazza Del Campo was great.

We thought of going up to the top of the campanile but we gave up as the sign said it was very narrow in some places...

We went to the Facciatone instead where we had an amazing panoramic view of Siena.

We visited the Duomo, one of Italy's greatest cathedral, lavishly decorated and featuring work by Pisano, Donatello and Michelangelo.
More pictures of Florence later....

Florence by night

We arrived in Florence in early afternoon and walked along the river to go to our hotel. We were so tired that we decided to rest before exploring the city. We enjoyed a nice and fresh "vino bianco" on our room balcony (no view from the balcony). In the evening we wandered to the city center, our first sight of Florence was at night. The pictures are not great but I didn't have a tripod...

Stunning panoramic view of the city from Piazzale Michelangelo: The Palazzo Vecchio:

basilica Santa Croce:

Arno river:

Ponte Vecchio: the oldest surviving bridge in the city!

More later...

Venice

Another post about Venice, probably the last one, then, I can show you some pictures of Florence and Sienna.


The weather was so nice that we didn't feel like doing any museum except the Guggenheim collection.
We also went on top of the campanile to have a view of the city from above

We also had a quick look at Lido island (where the famous international film festival-Mostra takes place) and its long sandy beaches...


More later....

Swap

This morning I receive a parcel from my swap partner in Edinburgh.


In there, I found: a pair of mittens, beret, scarf, chocolate, 3 balls of yarn and a book:

The color is not that bright, it is more burgundy. The mittens are knitted, the beret crocheted and I think the scarf is done using a technique using a knitting needle and a crochet hook (I have to ask). Thanks Kath!

Burano

Burano is well known for its colorful houses, traditional lace and tilting church tower.


More pictures from Venice later....

Snow

Just a quick post to show my latest creation:

He was very quick to make: It is knitted in one piece, on 4 needles (no sewing), then, felted twice in the washing machine at 70˚C. I needle felted the face and stuffed it with toy stuffing. The hat is knitted in the round as well.

Murano

Murano is famous for its glassmaking industry.
It is a really pleasant town that looks like a small village compare to Venice and is less crowded. We went on a Sunday so, unfortunately, we didn't see the craftsmen working.

There are loads of glass work on display in the streets.


As I told you previously, GruikGruik went shopping in Venice/Murano/Burano:

The bigger piggy comes from Florence. It is a ceramic one made by the Italian artist Riccardo Biavati.
More tomorrow....

Follow the guide

We started our trip by Venice. It is a truly amazing and unique city. Writing is not my strongest point so I won't bore you with the history of Venice. If you want to know more, go there.
One thing we really appreciated was the absence of cars and the thing we really disliked was the food (I know, it is surprising for Italy, but unless you pay other the odd, then you can only find tourist food...).
We explored Venice itself, Murano, Burano and Lido. Leon was most interested by Piazza San Marco (as you saw in the previous post), whereas GruikGruik went piggy hunting (and he did quite well, especially in Murano. I'll post a picture later).

The weather was so nice (sunshine and 20-25˚C) that we spent 4 days wandering in the streets, along the canals. We also bought a pass for the waterbuses allowing us to go everywhere in the laguna.

Rialto bridge:


Along the Grand Canal:

More tomorrow....

Back

We are back from our vacation :o( .... We've been visiting Leon's cousins:

I have over a thousand pictures to go through (and probably only a handful worth showing) so it will take me a while...
In the meantime, this one should summarize it: