Italy, 1999 - A Continuing Photographic Extravaganza!
The bell tower woke me up very morning with the 13th century equivalent of the snooze button; it would ring at 7 am and then again at about 7:05 or 7:10. Notice the clock only has one hand; I assume the other one is out for restoration.
A line of palazzos along the back of Siena's Piazza del Campo.
An overview of the piazza from the top of the duomo.
The Siena cathedral, another Gothic cathedral in Italy. The layer cake design of the marble facade is typical of Italian Gothic church design.
I went up to two women travelling together and asked one of them (the good looking one, of course) to snap a photo. She deferred to her friend, the fat ugly one. "She knows about photography" was her comment and well, yes, the friend had a nice rig hung around her neck and a bag of photo stuff next to her. The "expert friend" took this photo.
Sorry, but a shot framed such that the tower is growing out of my head is not what I had in mind. Grumble grumble grumble...
Some of the remaining towers of San Gimignano.
The obligatory photo of Michelangelo's David, just after the slaying. Does this kid really look like a 14 year old? Is it really a symbol of Man's greatness - a truly Renaissance thought - or an impossible to match goal for all men? His right hand is larger than the left, which is supposed to symbolize his "annoited" status with God.
A truly ancient street in Perugia. This one ends at the arch built by Augustus on Estruscan foundations. An amazing town.