Under the Tuscan Sun - Florence, Italy - April 12-15, 2014
Above and Below: The very stunning and beautiful Cathedral in the heart of Florence!
Above and Below: On the streets of Florence! Beauty was at every turn!
Above and Below: Insane amount of people (mainly tourists) in the heart of Florence!
Above: The entrance to the Cathedral!
Below: One grand entrance to a very beautiful and stunning building! Above and Below: Inside the Cathedral!
Above and Below: Grand ceilings inside the Cathedral!
Above: Stunning views of the River Arno! Gorgeous!
Below: Lovely jewellery stores that lined the streets of the bridge! Above: Lovely views from the bridges around the city!
Below: What homemade sandwich looks best? One of each please! LOL. I wish - but I did have the salami one and man was it yummy! Above: GELATO!
Below: Beauty around Florence! Above: Great streets around Florence! it was so beautiful but it made it hard to navigate - had to keep double checking the map! LOL.
Below: Ponte Vecchio! Isn't it stunning! Above: Buildings across one of the Bridges in Florence!
Below: I was fortunate enough to see the Florence Vespa Club to cruise the streets of Florence! It was quite the thing to see - all the old style and modern vespas! Too fun! Above: The vespa club!
Below: More views of Ponte Vecchio! You can see the buildings overhanging the sides! Above and Below: Making the pizza dough at my Pizza and Gelato Making Class with Chef Andrea through the FlorenceTown Office! It was so much fun and one of my favourite things to do while in Florence!
Above: Chef Andrea showing us how to make proper pizza dough - Italian style!
Below: I was very proud of my dough ball! Above and Below: The dough balls are ready to let sit to rise!
Above and Below: While those needed time to rise, we started to prepare the gelato! It was chocolate on the menu to make!
Above and Below: The gelato was looking good even when it was at it's preparation stage!
Above: Chef Andrea pouring the gelato into the machine!
Below: Ingredients ready to make the pizza! In Italy they don't use pepperoni - it is salami! Above: My pizza before…
Below: My pizza after! So yummy and one of the best I had in Italy and I made it myself! Above: Me with my pizza before I ate it! LOL.
Below: Chocolate homemade gelato! It was to die for! Above and Below: My certificate for completing the class in Florence! I even got a recipe book to try my skills at home!
Above: Me and Chef Andrea!
Below: Fun little display outside one of the historic sights in Florence. I have no clue what was happening I was just walking by and saw men dressed up with feather hats! Above and Below: Lovely feather hats on the street of Florence!
Above: Niccolo Machiavelli's statute outside the Uffizi Gallery! I was actually really excited to see this since many of my classes (both in the UK and Canada) has focused on his work, especially 'The Prince'!
Below: Pitti Palace! This was actually a fantastic afternoon to see some of the rooms in the Palace as well as the Boboli Gardens which provided the most beautiful views of Florence! Above: Inside Pitti Palace! Stunning isn't it?!
Below: A lovely fountain inside Pitti Palace Boboli Gardens! The skylines were also beyond incredible! Above and Below: Tuscan views! I honestly just adored Florence!
Above: Clear skies and sightseeing!
Below: Inside the ceramic gallery! Above and Below: The ceramic gallery was attached to Boboli Gardens in Pitti Palace and it was absolutely gorgeous to look in and see!
Above: One of the most stunning chandeliers I have ever seen! I honestly adored it! It was in the ceramic gallery!
Below: Lovely garden picture in the Boboli Gardens! Above and Below: Close up of some of the flowers along the pathways throughout the garden and Pitti Palace!
Above: Cute little building inside the Pitti Palace Boboli Gardens!
Below: City views that are breathtaking! Above: Lovely sights of Florence!
Below: Statue in one of the squares that I walked through! Above and Below: Inside the Boboli Gardens!
Above: Inside the gardens of Pitti Palace!
Below: Lovely view of the River Arno! Above and Below: Spent a day to the Chianti region to take a wine tasting tour! There was the place in a medieval castle that also made olive oil! Even though I am not a wine drinker I tasted it all and actually enjoyed the tour! Still not a fan of wine though!
Above and Below: Stunning views of Tuscany region and of course, vineyards!
Above and Below: The Chianti Region which is famous for its wine and olive trees!
Above and Below: It was breathtaking to see!
Above: It was just magnificent to see the things that make up Tuscany and add culture to Florence and even Italy on a whole!
Below: The vineyard and medieval castle that we tasted the wine and seen where they store it! |
Above and Below: The ceiling in the Cathedral was just stunning and one of the main focal points of the Cathedral!
Above and Below: Inside the Cathedral!
Above and Below: The Bell Tower of the Cathedral! The beauty of it was just as stunning as the Cathedral itself!
Above: Leave it to me to find this store! LOL. I got some chocolates here but don't ask me what kind they were because I really don't understand the Italian labels!
Below: The whole outside of the Cathedral with the Bell Tower! Above: A statue of bikes on the side of a building. Strange but very neat to look at!
Below: Ponte Vecchio! This is one famous landmark in Florence. The bridge has shops (all jewellery stores) lining both sides. No cars or vespas are allowed on it! The buildings you can see over hang the edges! Just beautiful and so full of culture! Above and Below: Ponte Vecchio!
Above: Lovely and quite artistic street art!
Below: Gorgeous architecture all over the gorgeous city of Florence! It was a great adventure at every turn! Above: Florence is famous for homemade leather. At this not so little market, everything was handmade and manufactured in Florence. It was a requirement to have a market stand here! I bought a lovely wallet here from a cute old Italian man!
Below: Ponte Vecchio and it's beauty! Above: One of the many statues found in Florence around a corners in the main squares!
Below: Stunning views! Above and Below: Beauty in Florence. You can tell with the rolling hills that it is iconic Tuscany!
Above and Below: Lovely views of the city!
Above: Outside the Uffizi Gallery there were artists painting and drawing! It was quite a nice sight!
Below: So many people trying to buy leather from the lovely leather market in the city centre of Florence! Above and Below: Inside the huge Palace of Pitti!
Above and Below: Lovely sights inside the Pitti Palace!
Above: Inside the Costume Gallery in Pitti Palace!
Below: The artwork on ceilings is always just jaw dropping! Above and Below: Inside Pitti Palace's Costume Gallery!
Above: Lovely things inside the Costume Gallery!
Below: Part of the Garden of the Pitti Palace! Above and Below: Inside the back gardens of Pitti Palace leading to Boboli Gardens and the Ceramic Gallery!
Above and Below: This lovely garden had the most amazing views of the city and was just so enjoyable in the warm sunshine!
Above and Below: Inside the lovely Gardens!
Above and Below: Views of the city from the Gardens! Such a beautiful city Florence is!
Above: Views of Florence! Such a stunning city!
Below: The greenest garden I have ever seen! Above and Below: Inside the Boboli Gardens behind Pitti Palace!
Above and Below: Gorgeous views of the Tuscan city of Florence!
Above and Below: Some of the most beautiful views of the Tuscan countryside!
Above and Below: Views of Florence!
Above: Enjoying the sights the Gardens offered!
Below: Vineyard views in the Chianti region! Above and Below: The lovely vineyards!
Above: Vineyards are so pretty! Such an iconic view of Tuscany!
Below: Inside the Pitti Palace Gardens I came across this amazing building! Above and Below: Such beauty inside this strange looking building in the Pitti Palace Gardens!
Above: Amazing statue and very pretty design all over the walls!
Below: Street artists doing graffiti/spray paint art! Above: It was actually incredible to see and watch!
Below: Cheesecake gelato! This is heaven in a cone! Above and Below: Florence is surrounded by beauty!
Above: The buildings are just stunning!
Below: Vineyards while on the coach to my Chianti Wine Tasting Tour! Above and Below: Vineyards to see for miles!
Above: The wine tasting began! We also tried the vineyards extra virgin olive oil on bread, along with meats, snacks and sandwiches! They even had homemade almond biscotti! Such a yummy afternoon!
Below: Me at the vineyard! Above and Below: Where the barrels of wine are stored inside the castle at the vineyard!
Above: The vineyard's land we visited!
Below: The medieval castle! It was stunning! Above: She explained to use the different wines made at the vineyard. We were able to taste four types of red wines!
Below: The tables all set up and ready for us! Above: The barrels where the wine is stored!
Below: Lovely views of the vineyard! It was breathtakingly beautiful and went on as far as the eye could see! Truly iconic Tuscany! |