I came upon this pretty young thing decorating several poles in Pistoia. There were 2 of them either side of a statue of Garibaldi. I can’t decide whether he was amused or not by the girls.
Pistoia is an interesting city, not far from Florence. It is not a major tourist town, but it has a very well preserved historic centre. There are some very impressive buildings, most of which are in Piazza del Duomo
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The Cathedral di San Zeno has a lunette of the Madonna and Child by Andrea della Robbia.
Please note the steps at the top of the Campanile. I am not climbing those.
The Baptistry opposite is elegantly banded in green and white marble.
I found a great face on the facade of the Baptistry.
The Palazzo Pretorio, next door to the Baptistry, I found particularly interesting. I love the vaulted ceilings, and the decoration was fascinating.
I wandered about and found myself in Piazza S. Francesco D’Assisi where there was a pretty park with a stunning war memorial.
Behind this was another beautiful building, Pantheon deli uomini illustri.
I was in Pistoia on a Saturday, when the city centre is taken over by a huge market. These markets are very popular and the city was filled with people. I always head for the food market, as I find this much more interesting than the general merchandise area.
These tiny things are clementines. I don’t know exactly what you do with them, but they are very cute.
This appears to be dried fennel tops.
I have no idea what these are.
I don’t often see passionfruit in Italy.
I can’t resist artichokes.
I had lunch at a delightful restaurant, Lo Storno, in Via del Lastrone, 8, near the food market.
I had tagliata di cinta senese with valeriana and Parmesan. It was delicious.
As I was waiting for my train back to Lucca I spotted Edward VIII. Yes, I thought he was dead too, but apparently he is alive and well and on Saturday at 1.00pm he was waiting for a train to Florence.
You have to admire someone who is prepared to stand out from the crowd in such a jaunty way.
And here is a final look at the pole dancer.
