Florence,the "cradle of the Renaissance" for its monuments, churches and buildings, was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe and the world from the 14th century to the 16th century.

The cathedral of Florence(built during the Renaissance)

The dome, used 4 million bricks, took almost 200 years to build, is still the largest masonry dome in the world.(starting 52 metres above the floor and spanning 44 metres, the design is studied by many architects)

Giotto's bell tower (next to the Cathedral,view from the Dome)

Uffizi Gallery
It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world. It hosts a lot of originals from the greatest Renaissance artists, includes,
"Annunciation" by Leonardo;
"Primavera","The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli;
"Ognissanti Madonna" by Giotto di Bondone;
"The Holy Family" by Michelangelo;
"Madonna of the Goldfinch","Portrait of Pope Julius II","Self-portrait" by Raphael;
list goes on and on...
Unfortunately, it doesn't allow any photography inside of museum.

The Gates of Paradise, on the east pair of doors of Florence Baptistery were dubbed by Michelangelo.

Civic government in Florence(Palazzo Vecchio).
The original Michelangelo's David was here for more than 300 years till 1873)

Palazzo Vecchio -2

Palazzo Vecchio -3

Palazzo Vecchio -4

Ponte Vecchio(from Uffizi Gallery), the oldest of Florence's six bridges, is one of the city's best known images.

Glove Shop

Florence tour books

Narrow Street

A lady biking through a narrow alley in Florence

A shoe repair shop, yeah!

The Church of Dante,is said to be where Dante and Beatrice met. （但丁，出生在佛罗伦萨一个没落的贵族家庭，与莎士比亚和歌德，并称为世界三大文学巨匠。）

Gelato, a good treat in a hot day !

Truffle
La Grotta Guelfa, the restaurant we picked in the first night ended up as a very good one. The Truffle Pasta was tasty and delicious.(The black Truffle is sold €3,000 per kilo in a retail seller, while a white truffle is even more expensive)

Beautiful plating.

Famous Florence T-Bone Steak
Order starts from 1kg/piece !

A local meat shop in Florence

NH Porta Rossa, Florence
Built in the 12th century, the NH Porta Rossa hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Italy.

A hall in the 2nd floor inside of the hotel

Old furniture inside of suite

Florence view from Piazza Michelangelo(south of Arno River)

Piazza de Republica, Florence

------------- Original Arts in Uffizi Museum -------------

"Annunciation" by Leonardo da vinci(达芬奇的《天使报喜》)

"Primavera" by Sandro Botticelli(波提切利的《春》)

 "The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli(波提切利的《爱神的诞生》)

 
"Ognissanti Madonna" by Giotto di Bondone

"The Holy Family" by Michelangelo

"Madonna of the Goldfinch" by Raphael（拉斐尔的《金翅雀圣母》)

"Self-portrait" by Raphael

The leaning Tower of Pisa(located in the Piazza del Duomo in Pisa, an one hour train riding from Florence).

Built almost 1000 year ago, went through a number of restorations to correct once leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, it now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 3.9 meters from where it would be if the structure were perfectly vertical.

Galileo, famous physicist, had balls dropped from the leaning tower to demonstrate his theory.

The Baptistry of St. John, located on the other side of the Piazza del Duomo.

The structure is 54.86 m high, with a circumference of 107.24 m, and is the largest baptistry in Italy.

Rome


High speed train only takes 1hr30min to travel from Florence to Rome.

Colosseum
英國著名詩人拜倫（Lord Byron）曾说，"While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand;
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall;
And when Rome falls--the World."

It is the most visited attraction in Rome, more than 4 million tourists a year.

The film "Gladiator"(角斗士）, was filmed in Malta（位于意大利和北非之间马耳他共和國），where a replica of about one-third of Rome's Colosseum was built,mostly from plaster and plywood. It took several months to build and cost an estimated $1 million(year 2000).

Forum

古罗马废墟，位于斗兽场之旁，是昔日古罗马帝国的中心，建有无数的宫殿和建筑群，现在却只剩下颓垣败瓦，一片荒凉。附近还有一 座君士坦丁大帝的凯旋门，巴黎的凯旋门即按此仿制，其雕刻工艺十分精巧。

罗马帝国从兴起到衰亡经历了大约一千年的时间。帝国兴旺的年代，罗马军团所向披靡，每次凯旋归来就是从这两个座落在Forum两侧的凯旋门进城，穿过夹道欢迎的罗马人后从另一侧的凯旋门回到城外的军营。

“Casa Delle Vestali”, The House of the Vestal Virgins, 位于罗马废墟东侧的是侍奉圣火维斯塔女神（ Vesta ）的女祭司的宫殿。

维斯塔贞女（ Vestales Virgins ）是侍奉圣火维斯塔女神（ Vesta ）的女祭司，因奉圣职的 30 年内须守贞而得名 。这是宫殿的后院，中间的是两个给女祭司戏水的泳池。

The Temple of Julius Caesar, 这是凯撒大帝遇害后火化的地方。 莎士比亚的剧作，使凯撒的被刺暗杀在戏剧史上留下深刻的印象之外，历史上的悲剧人物也不容易被人遗忘。

 

The door has been there for more than 2000 years, gone through fires and floods, the original hinges still work.

 

古市场广场的废墟，想起了HBO历史大片“罗马”里，这里是用来聚会，宣布新政，也是审判犯人和挑选角斗士的地方。

Capitoline Wolf

也叫she-wolf. 传说中Romulus and Remus是战神迈斯mars与阿尔巴隆格alba longa国王之女莉亚西维亚rhea silvia所生之孪生子，但他们是由母狼哺乳长大，兄弟俩长大后各自成立了自己的城市，但最后Romulus战胜了Remus在Capitoline Hill的地方建立了古罗马。

SPQR
SPQR是拉丁语Senātus Populusque Rōmānus (“The Senate and People of Rome”)的缩写, 古罗马是参议员共同执政的共和国。 HBO的历史大作 “罗马”第一季对凯撒大帝把罗马共和国改换成罗马帝国，最后被政敌暗杀有详尽的描述。 SPQR在罗马到处可见，连下水道盖子上都有。就像任何古老的城市，罗马其实蛮脏的。

Pantheon

古罗马是一个极度相信神的国家，甚至连发面都有一个神。Pantheon是古罗马两千年前为所有的神建的万神庙。经历了两千年宗教，战争的洗礼，万神庙是古罗马保存的最好的建筑，也是诸多文艺复兴时期建筑师的蓝本。

Pantheon(Inside)
 #2 Most visited place in Rome (3.75 million tourists a year).

Angels & Demons is a 2009 American movie based on a 2000 bestselling mystery-thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown.It is the sequel to the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code.
这部电影的故事内容，牵扯到一个古老组织光明会与罗马天主教会之间的冲突。
欧洲核子研究中心的物理学家遭人神秘杀害，尸体胸前被烙印 光明会符号，院长委托哈佛大学符号学家罗柏·兰登教授协助调查，意外发现被害人的研究成果反物质遭人盗走，疑似就放置普世天主教会中枢梵蒂冈城的某处，如果不能在24小时之内寻获反物质并且带回欧洲核子研究中心，反物质所造成的爆炸将会夷平整个梵蒂冈。

此时梵蒂冈正在举行新任教宗选举仪式「闭门会议」，世界媒体云集罗马 ，4位最有可能担任教宗的候选人竟然下落不明，不久之后，4位候选人依序被烙上双向图，尸体出现在镁光灯下...
这4位新主教候选人分别以土,气,火,水的办法被处死,
The Earth, The Church of Santa Maria del Popolo
红衣主教Ebner dead, suffocated with soil。

The Air, West Ponente, Saint Peter's Square
红衣主教Lamassé, his lungs punctured。

The Fire, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Santa Maria della Vittoria
红衣主教Guidera was burned to death.

The Water, The Fountain of the Four Rivers
红衣主教Baggia被及时赶到的Robert Langdon从fountain里救起。

Castel Sant'Angelo
据说这里有一条秘密通道直通Vatican。电影里Robert Langdon就是从这条通道里找到杀手的。

The Mouth of Truth
奥黛丽·赫本（Audrey Hepburn）和格利高里·派克（Gregory Peck）主演的《罗马假日》（Roman Holiday） is a 1953 romantic comedy. A face carved in marble which is said to bite off the hands of liars.

这个大理石的人脸雕像就在The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin门外的走廊上。
拍照要排队，要有微量捐款。

建于18世纪的The Spanish Steps是罗马的重要景点.电影《罗马假日》里反叛的安妮公主偷偷割短了长发，在The Spanish Steps“巧遇”报社记者乔治。

The Spanish Steps is one of the most romantic attractions of Rome and a favorite background for Roman couples’ wedding pictures. During the afternoons and evenings hundreds of young people gather here to meet and drink.

During the summer months, The Spanish Steps is always filled up with huge, but equally colorful, crowd of people.
(it reminds me of China!)

西班牙廣場上有一個巴洛克藝術的噴泉，被稱為破船噴泉（La Fontana della Barcaccia）。傳聞，教皇伍朋八世因為在臺伯河水災中對一艘被沖到此地的船有深刻的印象，所以在此建造了破船噴泉。

to be continued...