A Room With a View

Here are what many of you have been asking for: some pictures of my place. First, here are two shots of my street, Via dei Magazzini. It's two blocks in length; the second shot shows my block. And there's my front door (#6!), as well as a shot of the front of my building. (I love the green shutters!) Yes, I'm on the top floor. There are exactly 54 steps (yes, I counted!) to climb to get to my apartment. They seem like nothing, knowing what awaits me when I open the door!

Next are two shots showing the views out of my front windows, one down my street looking north toward the Duomo and the other looking south toward the Piazza della Signoria. The tower you see is the famous Campanile, which is part of the Palazzo Vecchio. This piazza is filled with statues, including a copy of Michelangelo's David (the original is in the Accademia), and it has been the center of Florence politics since the 14th century. I've already heard two demonstrations from my place.

Next are the wooden stairs leading up to my rooftop terrace. (Yes, these steps to the terrace are actually inside my apartment and accessible only to me!) And, finally, here is what I see from that terrace. Amazing, isn't it? You can even see where I sat yesterday afternoon while preparing for class, with the Duomo peeking up in the background.

And I stayed out on the terrace until the sun went down behind the Campanile. Yes, this is life!