"Florence: My Favorite City in the World " a Florence Travel Page by LostBoyPN

When my friend and I arrived in Florence it was pouring rain. We didn't have a hotel room, so we walked around using my Lonely Planet guidebook, but the hotels were either full or kinda scary looking. So, we walked and walked and sludged through the puddles of rain. My shoes and socks were soaked. So were my pants. Thing is, I didn't care. I was so enthralled just walking around the wet city streets that I hardly noticed or bothered with it. I just felt so great being there.

Florence just seemed to "fit" my personality. It was artistic, vibrant, yet a bit conservative. The architecture was orderly (red roofs abound) and seemed to have a strong sense of place. The Duomo is magnificent. A bit plain on the interior, but splendid nonetheless.

The people were great, too. They were fashionable, but didn't seem concerned with it. It was natural... rather than forced like it is in Los Angeles. Friends and family were really into each other... another conflicting trait with LA folks. It was not unheard of to see women and men or even men and men walking arm-in-arm.

Of course, with all the wonderful museums and churches and statues everywhere, it's no wonder they're so happy.

One of my thoughts was that you could take the worst looking building in Florence and stick it in Los Angeles and it would be the best building in LA.

After looking at all the art, I also thought that each person must have at least one masterpiece in them. Whether it's a painting, a sculpture, the written word, or being the best plumber - everyone in the world must have it in them to do GREAT things.

Florence is INSPIRING.

This square has a lot going on. It's got some great roman statues (see below) and is adjacent to Palazzo Vecchio, a nice palace, and the Uffizi.

The Uffizi is the building in the back, left with the Palazzo Vecchio behind Neptune's statue. The area with the arches houses some great statues including Perseus by Cellini and The Rape of the Sabine Women.