How Florence won my heart!  The majesty of the duomo, the beauty of the art, the children Florence bore–from Dante to Galileo to Michelangelo–are inspiring.  

     How I loved leading students through the Uffizzi, telling them about the early Renaissance altarpieces of Cimabue, Giotto and Simone Martini; Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera; Michelangelo’s one round painting, the Holy Family; the Laocoon; Bernini’s San Lorenzo; Gentelleschi and Georges de la Tour and Caravaggio.  What a feast for the eyes, heart and soul!