Took the train to Florence today – very crowded, and the Italian of the people around us sounding so nice. It sort of  hovered in the air around, and I kept picking up words and short sentences.

There is much to see in Florence. Decided to start at the center and work our way outwards – so we climbed all 436 steps towards the top of Brunelleschi’s  Dome . Impressive frescoes of the Last Judgement (by Vasari – I checked). The anguished creature I photographed has been judged – and condemned. It sits on the lower part of the fresco, the circle of hell. Have often wondered why we situate hell below and heaven above – what happened to the idea of Earth as a mother?

This city, by the way,  is really unbelievable! It is packed with art from ages and ages: at least five musea and one great garden on my to-do list. Add elegant people and expensive shops,  a sunny sky and a wind that has a touch of winter and you have some of the ingredients that make this city’s mixture a potent one. Even the city buses are special. Tiny little ones that operate on electricity; they weave in and out of the old streets, making hop-on hop-off a delightful thing to do.

Spent the evening in a good italian restaurant.  There is art even in  their cooking – meals like this don’t come my way every day.