Phespirit goes to Italy
Florence     March 1999

AROUND ITALY

1 Florence

The list of fabulous Florentine Renaissance palaces and churches and museums and galleries and architecture is both too long and too familiar for Phespirit to recite here. Their fame is international, their reputations justified, and no words from Phespirit can elevate them further.

Of the city's less celebrated locations though, Santa Croce merits a little mention. Here can be found Galileo's tomb, Michelangelo's tomb, Dante's memorial (his tomb is in Ravenna, where he lived in exile) and some splendid gothic detail. Greatness all round.

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2 Pisa

The world-famous leaning tower draws in the tourists, but it is just one of several equally magnificent religious edifices situated on or around Campo dei Miracoli. Unfortunately when Phespirit came to town many were undergoing restoration work, including the façade of the great Duomo. His timing for this whole trip had been poor.

The rest of Pisa presents little to get excited about, but to remark upon it would be unnecessarily churlish.

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3 Siena

Everything an unspoiled Tuscan city should be. None of the noise or distractions of modernity, just serene, sunny squares linked by quiet, narrow alleys, lined with russet mediæval palaces and town houses, all set upon the steep inclines of seven hills.

Phespirit took great satisfaction from reaching the top of Torre del Mangia, the belltower attached to the Palazzo Pubblico. At 102m tall, it is the second highest belltower in Italy ..... and feels it.

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1. Florence
2. Pisa
3. Siena