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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.
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Suggested location for this reading: Piazza Signoria, in front of the building that is called both Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo della Signoria. Sections of this building are presently used for government, which was its original purpose as well. You can visit the more “historical” parts though.
This essay examines how monuments can reflect ideas and also a political situation.
Hear related podcast here.
Summary Timeline of dates and events
This timeline shows the struggle between REPUBLIC (the people) and ABSOLUTE RULE by the Medici family. Eventually, of course, the people lost.
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