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This list of guide books is intended as a starting point to help you plan your trip to Florence and environs (along with reading this website). These will help you decide what interests you, so you can plan your trip in advance and not waste precious time in indecision.

I really encourage travelers to enrich their experience by also reading other types of books about aspects of Italy that interest them. After the guide, you might consider an art history textbook, some historical fiction, something about italian history… There are posts on arttrav with reading lists that might help you choose something fun to read before or during your trip. Read more…

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While you’re in Florence (or in any other Italian city, for that matter) you’re going to see a lot of frescoes (a special technique of wall painting). Have you ever wondered how they were made, and why they still look so good?

Fresco was used in the Ancient world but fell out of favour in the Middle Ages, when they tended to use more mosaic. It came back around 1300 as it was the best form of painting for monumental architecture, much of which was being built at this time (especially in Florence). It could be done quickly and quite cheaply, it could cover vast surfaces AND it is relatively permanent.

FRESCO (affresco in italian) means WET. The paint is applied to wet plaster. This term thus should not be applied to just any wall painting. Some parts of the fresco are applied A SECCO, which means DRY. Frescos are mostly permanent because of their chemical composition: Read more…

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The following is a list of outlet stores in or around Florence. As shopping in the city has gotten more and more expensive, and always less exciting, I’ve taken to frequenting these places for wardrobe updates. Addresses, reviews, and directions are provided below. Read more…

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Warning: unbashed product review/commercial plug to follow

I recently bought a new digital camera, in part to upgrade the old photos on arttrav, and in part for my own travel gratification. After much research, we chose the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35K 10MP, and I could not be happier. This extremely compact camera has a super wide angle lens, which makes it particularly useful for shooting interior spaces (like frescoed chapels - see the beautiful new pics of the Spanish Chapel). With an 8 GB memory card in it, I can shoot literally thousands of photos and never run out of space (or battery power, so far). It is loaded with advanced features, but since I haven’t read the instruction book, I’ve used its base settings and some of its “dummy” special tricks and found this to be more than sufficient. It’s so easy to use, even my husband has learned to be a great photographer.

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There are two excellent English bookstores in Florence. Both are set up in pleasant spaces downtown, and offer seating and special events. They have english-speaking staff. These are:

The Paperback Exchange
www.papex.it
Via delle Oche 4R, right behind the duomo.

• just like the title says, you can sell your paperbacks to them for credit towards more books!

McRae Books
www.mcraebooks.com
Via dei Neri 32R, not far from the back of the Uffizi.

Italian stores carrying english books:

Feltrinelli International, a large Italian bookstore chain, has a pretty good selection of recent English paperbacks at their via Cavour location, right by the major bus stop near the Duomo.