Walk-about in Florence .. part three

Continuing from my last post, and leaving the crowded Piazza dell Signoria behind, please join hubby and I during the rest of our walk-about in Florence while we stroll back to our hotel for a short R&R ..

  

We bought a small watercolour from this chappie ..

Walking past the Piazza degli Strozzi again we heard the sound of jazz coming from a courtyard and took a peek.  The area around the courtyard is the Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina (CCCS) where a wide variety of activities, exhibitions, events and lectures are held ..

We popped in here to grab a bite to eat while we walked ..

After a short rest back at our hotel .. Croce di Malta Hotel, we walked to Ponte Vecchio for a closer look ..

Ponte Santa Trinita .. the oldest elliptic arch bridge in the world.  Originally of wooden structure (1252) .. swept away in a flood .. rebuilt in stone and swept away in 1333.  Again destroyed by flooding in 1557 .. rebuilt .. statues were added in 1608.  Not the luckiest of bridges with flood waters!!!!    Retreating German troops destroyed the bridge in 1944 and was reconstructed in 1958 with original stones raised from the River Arno ..

Ponte Vecchio from western side ..

On the bridge .. one jewellery shop after the other, on both sides of the bridge ..

On the other side ..

I could have gone wild in this shop  .. I love the ceramics !!!!!!    I did come away with a small colourful trinket box and wine stoppers for everyone back home ..

We walked as far as the Palazzo Pitti ( Pitti Palace) … dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker.  Bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a power base by Napolean.  The palazzo and its contents ( a treasure house of paintings, plates, jewellery and luxurious possessions) were donated to the Italian people by King Victory Emmanuel III in 1919.  It is now the largest museum complex in Florence ..

Walking back .. time was getting short as we had a deadline for our group gathering to catch the coach for our country dinner …

… back over the Ponte Vecchio ..

Midway is a bust of the goldsmith Benevento Cellini (1500-1571) .. one of the city’s most famous residents, and an accomplished painter, soldier and sculptor

Walking back from where we came … as far as Ponte alla Carraia .. a bridge that met the same fate as Ponte Santa Trinita with flooding, rebuilding, destroying by German troops and was finally rebuilt in 1948 ..  (yet another unlucky construction!)

Church of San Frediano in Cestello ..

Next .. dinner the Ristorante I tre pini in the hills of ‘Chianti Classico’

… Trafalgar Tours : Best of Italy : June 2013