blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
[personal profile] blamebrampton
A picspam from Italy!

This is a brief picspam with minimal accompanying text, I warn you now that at some point in the next couple of months there will be an extensive one with miles of commentary. Yes! It's like slides from the seventies, except we now inflict them on the entire internet, not just the neighbours!

(It was going to be more messages, but I have spent the day putting up my new shelves and my hands are buggered for typing. Tomorrow will also be a day of something easy, then back to the good stuff for the New Year! Hurrah!)




This is my favourite part of Florence, it's a set of martyrs in one of the tabernacles on the outside of Orsanmichele, and it is terribly serious. But to me, it will always be the home of Pigeonhead (if you click on the image you will see a larger version, with a far clearer pigeon). Every night that pigeon was there, nestled in its saintly home. Bless ...



Outside the main centre of Florence is a little-visited gem of a museum called Museo Stibbert. YOU MUST GO THERE. Seriously, no matter what you are interested in, you will find something splendid to tickle your fancy. This is a Napoleonic cloak, owned by Napoleon ;-)



This is the beautiful Palazzo Davanzati on via Porto Rossa (only open in the mornings). It is a beautiful building undergoing a truly spectacular restoration to its 14th century roots and stepping into it is like leaving the modern world utterly behind.



One of the fat and grumpy cats at Palazzo Pitti -- it was like seeing the much-loved Min cat's extended family! This fellow came out for a drink from a fountain while the costume crew were all there at a reception, he handled the crowds with aplomb, managing to exude an aura of 'look but do not touch' without a single hiss.



The view from the terrace at the Tornabuoni Beacci. You can play count the aerials and satellite dishes!



The ceiling of one of Cosimo's rooms at the Palazzo Vecchio. He was a subtle and understated man.


Santa Croce, where Galileo is buried! The Franciscans, bless their cotton socks, had him squirrelled away so that when, some 150-odd years after he died, the Pope said 'You know, since it turns out he was right, he wasn't THAT heretical, and he was Italian, we should probably do something to commemorate him' they said in reply 'OH LOOK! Here's his corpse right here!'



Traisping through the Bargello with [livejournal.com profile] shiv5468 , [livejournal.com profile] anthimaeria  and [livejournal.com profile] vaysh , we found this very Malfoyesque peacock. Where were pingrid and raitala you might ask? I giggle, and promise to tell you later.



And I think this is Chiasso Ricasola, on the one occasion I saw it with no bicycles chained up, which was only annoying because I had wanted a shot of the bikes ;-)

In short, Florence in the autumn is one of those perfectly lovely places, I'll tell you more about it in the New Year.



Date: 2008-12-30 01:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pingrid.livejournal.com
I proudly claim that drinking to excess with Rairai is a perfectly legitimate reason to skip a few bits of statuary. :D

Shelves is good! I need some too, but first I need some more wall. Did you get ones to match the other ones, or are you branching out for that eclectic mad professor look?

Date: 2008-12-30 01:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com
They MATCH! Though this means that we have to go back and get the last narrow shelf some time this week, as they had none on the day we were there. The alternative was red, or the expensive ones, and since I have STILL not been paid, and red would just be willfully eccentric, we settled for these.

I've had to dismantle two smaller shelf sets to make room for them, though ...

Date: 2008-12-30 01:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pingrid.livejournal.com
Still not paid - the bastards! On the positive side, since you're not spending that much on Christmas, you can save the money for your travel fund when you do get it! :D Estonia '09!

Date: 2008-12-30 02:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pingrid.livejournal.com
By the way, have you seen A New Pope? Star Wars/Vatican crossover, so funny! :D

Profile

blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
blamebrampton

May 2020

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Aug. 12th, 2025 11:27 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios