Odds & Ends #3

In Florence, garbage is not picked up on the street. You take it to a kind of container. There are several of these containers and you are expected to do a first sorting (there is one for glass, one for material that can be composted, etc...).

Odds and ends #2

January 17th is the feast day of Sant'Antonio Abade, who among other things is the protector of domestic animals. This improvised chapel is for the blessing of pets. We saw a blessed dog come out with its owner, and the lady in the picture tried to convince a man who was walking his dog to go in and have him blessed, but without success.

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Bookstores

In previous winters, when we spent time in Victoria B.C. I went on about how numerous the bookstores were in Victoria. Well, I had not seen Florence yet. Florence has not only numerous bookstores but particularly good ones as well as specialized stores. The most prominent is Feltrinelli, which is also a publisher. At its main location are three floors of very diverse, interesting and beautiful books. There are two other large locations (one in the train station).

A Visit to Fiesole

The other day we walked to Fiesole. This is a town outside Florence. It has a long history as it is older than Florence. The Etruscans and the Romans had settlements in Fiesole, before there was any settlement in Florence.

Fiesole through the trees

The Cavalcade of the Magi (Wise Men)

Epiphany, when the three wise men arrived at the manger, is celebrated in Florence with a procession of people dressed up in mostly Renaissance costumes. This parade which was started in 1417, stopped in1494 and was resurrected in1997. Unfortunately, the photos are very poor as we were standing behind a crowd and did not see much of the action. Below are the three wise men on their horses.