One of the special aspects of this trip is that we all have done a fair amount of reading about the history of this great city and I wanted to pass on my suggestions, and Renee could add a few more:
1. Brunelleshi's Dome by Ross King...all about the building of the miraculous dome on Florence's magnificent Duomo.
2. The City of Florence by RWB Lewis...historical and personal musings by an academician who spent six years of his life in Florence over the course of numerous trips and sabbaticals. The last chapter is about the Santa Croce neighborhood we stayed in and also about the apartment building we actually rented in.
3. The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall by Christopher Hibbert...a fascinating look at a powerful, wealthy family that helped shape and govern Florence over several centuries and at one time was the preeminent banking family in all of Europe.
4. The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone...a fictionalized version of the life of Michelangelo with factual backing...I am halfway through it...a great read.
Our background reading has added much to our enjoyment of Firenze... and much to our knowledge about the history of this remarkable place.
