The view that magnetised me was the vacant football pitch just at the foot of the mountain. At a height of 1754 meters over sea level, we felt a little discomfort breathing and I can only imagine how challenging it would have been to play a football game in such conditions.
The Bosco Verticale – “The Vertical Forest” was one of the most unique buildings I had ever seen in Milan. There were 900 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 floral plants that had been imbedded against the two towers. The towers were built in this style, to reduce smog and increase oxygen levels.
Milano Duomo is the 5th largest Cathedral in the world and among this list of five – it is the oldest Cathedral. The day before I took this photo, we were enjoying some “Spritz” with a friend in a rooftop bar. From there, we had a view of the top of the Cathedral. From a bird’s eye view, you can see the many sculptures that are decorating the Duomo Towers.
The Ponte Vecchio “The Old Bridge” replaced the Roman Stone Bridge of Florence in 1345. Today it is impossible to be in Florence and not pass by it on foot, enjoying the marvellous jewellery shops that have situated on Ponte Vecchio for centuries. It is also one of the most interesting bridges that I have ever seen because of its construction and the history it carries.
Who doesn’t think of Tuscany when they hear of hills and vineyards? The interesting thing is that it is not just the wineries that are built on the hills – the cities take advantage of the terrain. Siena is one of them – you could walk through the old town and enjoy the view of the sights from a distance.
San Gimignano is known in Italy as “the Town of Fine Towers”. The towers of this medieval town are visible from every point you approach on the hill that it stands on. The dozens of tower-houses are a symbol of San Gimignano but, it’s not the only symbol of this place – another, is the vineyards with the famous Vernaccia grapes!
For many decades after the establishment of Florence Duomo in the 13th Century, the Florence Cathedral was opened, and it took the genius mind of Filippo Brunelleschi to figure out exactly how to build the dome, the first of its kind in the 15th Century. In our day today, it dominates the skyline of the city and makes you marvel at how this structure survived through the ages.
When you visit the Urbino old town, it may seem like a travel back in time. If you look on the buildings and ignore modern outfits of people passing by, the posters, café umbrellas, you can feel like a time traveller visiting on a summer’s day, that is 500 years ago. This is the impression one could have, especially when you visit the square in front of the Urbino Cathedral.
Piazza San Marco, internationally known as St Mark’s Square gained its own nickname “La Piazza” – THE Square, and I think it says a lot about Venice’s importance. There is a legend that Napoleon called it “the drawing room of Europe”. In our day, I would say the “photographing room of Europe”.
The wonderful thing about the Dolomites is that when you take a drive through the mountain valleys to your destination, and you look around – you will see that this route is more interesting than the end. The view on Picco Di Vallandro (translated in German – Dürrenstein) from the flourishing valley, was an absolute pleasant surprise.