Ennyman's Territory: Flashback Friday: Italy

It's well known that Florence played a central role in the birth of the Renaissance. During my visit to Italy this past spring I learned about the various factors that converged to foster an environment conducive to intellectual and artistic flourishing. These factors included economic prosperity, patronage of the arts, political stability and civic pride.

While there I learned how much the Florentines valued intellectual exchange and the love of learning. Purportedly the literacy rate in Florence was twice that of other cities in Europe and Italy itself. (EdNote: I read this in a book about booksellers row during the Renaissance. Fact-checkers are welcome to correct me here.) Books were highly valued and ancient books most of all.

All this to say that my selection of Florence as a destination was richly rewarded when I planned my Italy trip, a 70th birthday gift from my daughter and son-in-law, this past spring. While there I took 40 pages of notes and what seemed like a thousand photos. Upon my return I began processing my experience by writing about it. Here are 16 blog posts about my trip abroad.

1. Initial Thoughts after my first trip to Italy

2. A Brief Overview of My Italy Adventure

3. 850 Years Old and Still Looking Good: The Battistero di Parma
4. The Galileo Museum in Florence Is Worthwhile Destination

5. Liberation Day: Italy Celebrates Victory Over Fascism, With Expressions of Gratitude to the U.S.

6. 1000 Rooms of Splendor: The Palazzo Pitti
7. Bob Dylan in Italy

8. The Death of Galileo

9. The Scarpelli Mosaici

10. Michelangelo’s David… A Showstopper

11. Daniela Meza Sigala: Florence Artist’s Seriously Whimsical Paintings

12. The Teatro Farnese in Parma

13. The Duomo in Florence: A History, plus Photos

14. One of the Most Famous Paintings in Florence: Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), by Antonio Ciseri