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Galileo Museum

Everything from Galilio’s finger to a broken glass from his telescope to everything else as it was invented to make the modern world tick – it’s all here and it is well worth a visit.  Alternatively – it’s worth even getting the free app and do a virtual tour of the place to explore this […]

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Arno River

Our hotel is right over the Arno River which gives us access not only to great views but also great photo opportunities.  If you want to see something really interesting look this up here.  

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Car Tour

Some of the great sites we visited on the little vintage Fiat Tour.  From vineries and olive tree orchards to monuments, churches and homes. Lots of great views, food and company.  It truly was a great day.  

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Santa Croce

This tours is definitely lacking in visits to the holy places but little church certainly makes up for it.  You walk in here and find some amazing crypts of who is who of Renaissance and beyond.  St. Francis of Assisi left his frok here.  Buried in this church are Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, Marconi, Rossini […]

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Fiat Fun in Florence

This was really a last minute idea for doing something different – aka something that involved less walking and more sitting.  We booked it the night before and had to get up early to be there by 8:30 am.  This turned out to be a half day tour through the hills around Florence with an […]

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Sunset over Florence

I think one of the greatest benefits of the hotel we are staying at, other than the fact that there are a lot of great pubic areas, is the rooftop patio.  You can grab a drink from the bar, park yourself and enjoy a beautiful sunset.  Truly amazing.               […]

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New Digs in Florence

We took a train from Rome to Florence.  This is the first time we are on holidays where we did not bother with a car.  Less than 1.5hours later we were in the centre of Florence – instead of the usual almost a 4 hour drive.  I think we can get use to it.  We […]

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Domitian Stadium

The Stadium of Domitian was dedicated in AD 86, as part of an Imperial building programme at the Field of Mars.  It was Rome’s first permanent venue for competitive athletics – think Olympic Games and other things, including gladiator fights when the Colosseum burned down. It was modelled on Greek buildings and seated as many […]

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Under the Trevi Fountain

To the right of the Baroque church on the opposite side of the Trevi Fountain are the ruins of an ancient Roman apartment complex located 9 meters beneath the city’s Trevi district. The archaeological site dates back to the first century, but wasn’t discovered until the late 1990s. The site is called  Vicus Caprarius, the City […]

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Villa Farnesina

Villa Farnesina was built for a wealthy banker back in the early sixteen century and ‘painted’ by many famous Italian painters including Raphael.  It’s been rebuilt and redecorated and altered and reinforced to deal with the vibrations of the traffic to preserve the amazing frescos inside of it.  

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Trastevere

Trastevere – goes as far back as the days of emperor Augustus. It has been part of the city’s 14 districts, and it was quite popular with important Romans who built villas in this neighbourhood, including Julius Caesar.  It is many colourful building and narrow streets.  In the old days it was primarily occupied by fisherman […]

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Sant’Ignazio

This is a small church among some 900 other churches in Rome, and is dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, located in Rome. Built in Baroque style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as the chapel of the adjacent Roman College, which moved in 1584 to a new larger […]

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