Merry Christmas (a few days early)! As Christmas approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about the holiday season I spent in Florence, Italy in 2012. When we decided to go to Italy in the winter, I must admit I was a little unsure. When I think of Italy, I think of blue skies and the hot sun. As it turns out, Italy is absolutely beautiful and during the winter season and particularly festive for Christmas.
I shot “Duomo In Winter” on Christmas day 2012. When we planned our trip to Florence, we knew that Christmas would be a pretty low key day, as almost the entire city shuts down for the holiday. On Christmas Eve, we went to the colorful Mercato Centrale and bought a wide selection of cheese, crackers, bread, meat, biscotti, wine – it was quite the spread! The plan was to take everything up to have a quiet picnic on Piazzale Michelangelo, which is a little square that overlooks the city center of Florence. On Christmas day, we packed everything up for our picnic and headed out. As soon as we hit the streets, I was amazed at how many people were out! Because everything was closed, I assumed everyone would stay in but it was quite the opposite. The streets were filled with Italians and tourists alike, happily strolling through the cobblestone streets. Rather than the typical sounds of city life, a soft murmur of voices could be heard echoing against the city’s beautiful architecture. Despite the overcast skies, the red and green marble of the Duomo never looked brighter.
As we walked towards the Arno River to cross over to Piazzale Michelangelo, it became apparent that we were definitely not the only ones who had decided that a picnic would be a nice way to spend Christmas day. There was quite the crowd sitting on the steps enjoying a glass of wine while gazing at the medieval city’s beautiful tiled roofs, cathedral domes, and colorful Ponte Vecchio bridge. It was a wonderful way to spend the day and definitely one of the most memorable Christmases I’ve ever had.
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! Thank you for reading!
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