Bergamo
Bergamo is located in the northern part of Italy, in the Lombardy region which also includes Milan and Lake Como. It used to be a part of La Serenissima — the Most Serene Republic of Venice — and the wall built by the Venetians around the city to defend it from invasions now divides Bergamo […]
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany known for its beautiful medieval architecture and a summer-time horse race that provokes fierce rivalries among the city’s wards.
Monteriggioni
“If you play Assassin’s Creed, you probably know our next destination more than I do,” our tour guide quipped as we made our way to the medieval fortress of Monteriggioni.
San Gimignano: Gelato and Towers in the Tuscan Countryside
♥ San Gimignano is an old, walled Italian hill town in Tuscany surrounded by numerous vineyards and cypresses. ♣ ♣ Centuries ago, during a period of conflict and intense rivalry, San Gimignano’s prominent families tried to outdo each other by building houses of ever increasing height. Each new house was built to be taller than […]
Fiesole
♣ ♣ On the hills just above Florence lies the quiet comune of Fiesole. It is famous for its ruins, Roman and Etruscan; for Fra Angelico, who took his vows there as a friar of the Dominican Order; for Monte Ceceri, where Leonardo da Vinci conducted his flying experiments; and for unparalleled panoramic views of […]
The Last Medici
♥ ♥ The 18th of February marks the anniversary of the death of Anna Maria Luisa de Medici, the last of Florence’s ultra powerful Medici dynasty. She left the family’s entire art collection to Florence under the condition that none of it be ever taken out of the Tuscan capital and thus unwittingly ensured the city’s future through tourism. […]