Tuesday 11 July 2017

A warm welcome at an old palace – By Ellen Bakker

It was a beautiful spring day when I walked down the Via di San Leonardo to the city centre of Florence. On my way I enjoyed the blooming wisteria and the sounds of birds, and I imagined that people could have enjoyed this same route centuries ago. Nowadays, the presence of rushing cars and scooters passing by every now and then clearly makes a difference. Even though you might think the cityscape of Florence has remained the same for the past centuries, in fact some of it has changed.  The same is true for the place that I was headed to that day, namely the Villa Gualfonda.

Rear side of Villa Gualfonda, Florence
(Photo: author)