Mother's Day picspam

[rose_griffes]

It's Mother's Day and I'm... doing a picspam of Florence, Italy to celebrate? My brain is weird. Though in my defense, there's a maternal connection in these photos. All of these pictures were taken during a brief stay in Florence in June 2004. I took most of them, my mother took a few and a friend took some as well.

First off, there's a cathedral. Of course there's a cathedral. I think it's il duomo in Italian. Wow, amazing how much I've forgotten in the intervening years.




There's more than one cathedral in town, if I remember correctly. Though these pictures are all the same cathedral.




One of my favorite things about visiting western Europe is eating outside.


Crowded city streets, full of tourists. You can tell who's local--they walk fast without gawking.


Even the rooftops in Florence are gorgeous.


Statues! Florence has a LOT of statues.


"Why yes, my horse is fabulous. As am I."


I liked the statues honoring famous Italians. DaVinci looks suitably saint-like for a statue.


Whereas Michaelangelo seems to be a bit dissipated.


Dante's wondering how he got stuck here with these rascals.


And the woman around the corner is miffed at the lack of feminine representation. (This shot came out so well, I love it. Happy timing on where the sun was.)


There's a really cool bridge in Florence!


It's old and has buildings added on the edges!


probably this bridge has a name, but I don't remember it...


Look at how crowded it is!


Tourists taking pictures while people try to sell souvenirs and sunglasses. I like this photo.


Look, it's my mother! She's getting ready to take more pictures.


One quality I really appreciate in my mother is her sense of adventure. Whether we're checking out the new bead shop downtown, driving to see relatives in Wisconsin, or flying off to Italy, she's ready to try something different. She makes a great travel partner.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who have the joy and privilege (and hard job) to act as a mother figure in someone's life.