Last night I went to a friend's for a small party and brought my macchina fotografica (camera) with me. On the news, they had been talking about the possibility of snow in Florence for the past few days. With the misty white sky we had all day, I knew it was going to snow. My friend turned off the lights in her apartment when she noticed the snow falling outside the windows. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get outside to take some foto (photos).
Right before 9pm, I was walking down the via Calzaiuoli that was packed with people only two hours earlier. I stopped in Piazza della Signoria under the awning of the edicola (newspaper stand) to take a couple of foto. At night, the snow looked more like rain than snow, so I continued home.
I had a hard time sleeping last night. I had taken some foto from our apartment at midnight. There was a thick blanket of snow covering the city. This morning I woke up at 6:30 am and was out of the house by 8 am. The sky was still white, but I had to see the city from Piazzale Michelangiolo: the rooftops, the Duomo, the trees, and the surrounding hills and mountains covered with snow.
I walked carefully across Ponte alle Grazie because the sidewalk had a layer of snow and ice on it. Cars and buses inched past me because even the streets were still icy. I walked through San Niccolò and headed for the scale (stairs) that lead up to the Piazzale Michelangiolo. A photographer was only a few steps ahead of me and we were the only ones heading our way up.
Snow was everywhere: on buildings, on the sidewalk, on trees, and on the cars parked in the piazzale. The only people I saw up at the piazzale were photographers and two buses of tourists who were all taking foto of the city under the soft blanket of snow. I strolled around the piazzale to take foto of the city from different angles, which were of course all stunning.
Walking up the scale wasn't too slippery, but I was afraid to walk back down. I put my macchina fotografica back in my case to keep my hands free and tried to only set foot in the powdery snow and not the melted areas. I made it down without losing my balance, but I would've gone up again given half a chance.
Because I was also meeting a friend for a caffè at Rivoire, I tried to take a few foto of the monuments in Piazza della Signoria. Afterwards, I walked over to my girlfriend's area and was surprised to see Piazza Pitti covered in snow like a ski slope.
I took a few foto around town today from different places, but my favorite ones are the foto I took from Piazzale Michelangiolo. I had hoped the sky was clearer, but the city was still breathtaking.
The sun peeked out of the sky in the early afternoon, but I didn't have time to go back up to the piazzale. The temperatures didn't increase much today, so there was still snow on the rooftops and trees. It might snow again next week, and if it does I will hike my way back up there for more foto.
NOTE: A few of the pictures I took today are on my blog's FaceBook page. You don't have to be a fan to view them.
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