The Ponte Vecchio is one of those famous sites people travel to see as part of any Italy jaunt. Here are some views of it, the first of which is the standard shot:
Here’s a view I took from the Uffizi Gallery during a tour there. A bit closer this time:
Personally, I like the next one the most. An artist working in watercolor was painting the bridge scene:
Was interesting to walk around the area, getting various views of the bridge and local neighborhood.
Here’s a daylight image of the Duomo in Florence, Italy.
The exterior style contrasts greatly with many of the church and cathedrals I saw in Spain, which are typically left the natural color of the cut stone. Let’s go inside:
Another rather plain interior. But don’t miss the clock at the rear of the building:
You can climb to the cupola of the Duomo and also the tower, but I was busy seeing so much else, that I didn’t want to wait in the long line. Here’s a night view, just for fun:
My hotel was across the street from this magnificent structure. Photos to follow soon.
Continuing in the Vatican Museum, here is a look at a room painted by Raphael.
Each wall contains a huge mural.
For models in the following work, he used many of the luminaries of his time.
Looking closer, perhaps you’ll recognize Leonardo and Michaelangelo.
Incredible stuff, among the great works humanity has produced in all of history.
Continuing with the Vatican Museum tour, here’s some video and stills from the Hall of Maps. These maps were commissioned by the Pope to make an accurate renderings of various areas. Here’s the video where they turn on the lights first thing in the morning:
Here are some still photos that show some detail, including this view of Italy:
The person standing on the left gives a sense of scale. Here’s another map, this time of Venice. There will be some posts about Venice here on the blog later.
The maps contain insets of various town and cities as you see next:
And another example here:
More to come in the next post.
The Bent Page 
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