Since I am not a "street photographer " it was challenging for me to always be on the look out for interesting  people and or scenes to photograph.  Normally I look for scenes without people in them.    So my assignment for the rest of this first full day in Florence was to get faster and more comfortable with this type of photography.  Not sure how successful I was at it but it was kind of fun.  

Motorbikes/cycles are a very popular form of transportation in Italy given both  the narrow streets and cost of fuel.  

This guy was so engrossed in his reading that it was easy to photograph him as he didn't move. 

Another easy subject to shoot.  There were bicycles everywhere we went.  

As you can see I was sticking to pretty easy subjects for my first day on  the job.  Everyone hangs their laundry outside to dry in Italy.

The Santa Maria Novella is the first great basilica in Florence and is the city's principal Dominican church.  Construction on the church started  in the mid 13th century and was finished about 1360.  Today several elegant hotels and restaurants overlook this recently cleaned and renovated square.  You can see part of the Grand hotel Minerva on the left side of the photo.  This residence  is one of the oldest in Florence and dates back to the middle ages.  

	These shots were taken in San Lorenzo Mercata Centrale, the central food market in Florence.  This used to be where most Florentines bought their food until modern supermarkets took over.  It was very  interesting to look at the displays of food, flowers, scarves, leather items etc.  Everything was all so colourful.  The market resulted from the time when Florence was the capital of Italy in the late nineteenth century.

This merchant was being filmed so I thought I would join in and take the guys' photo as well.

I liked the colour of the wall in this photo.

I watched this guy for quite a while before taking his picture.  I think this was one of my favourite photographs from the market.  It is hard to believe that the health regulations in the market are so lax.  Of course it is possible that this guy was just ignoring any non-smoking laws.   Their was no smoking on the trains and I don't remember any smoking in the restaurants (indoors) or the hotels.  Of course there might have been separate rooms available for smokers.  

We all went our separate ways in the market meeting after about an hour.  I kind of got into the spirit of just wandering around, observing and looking for interesting people to photograph.

After leaving the market I was getting warmed up taking people's pictures.  Well ok- it wasn't too difficult when one of these guys (on the right in case you can't guess) belonged to our group.

Meet Chris Grady.  Chris is an excellent photographer who like his wife excels in street photography.  He claims to not be as much of a landscape photographer but I've seen his work and it is really good.    Chris was the one on the trip who kept looking out for me to make sure I didn't get lost.  I might have let it slip that my navigational skills are not my  strongest  trait.

The Piazza Santissima Annunziata was the perfect place to people watch.   This section of the square looks on The Spedale degli Innocenti(hospital of the innocents), an early renaissance  historical building commissioned in 1419 as Europes' oldest  orphanage.   The facade is decorated with ceramic glazed medallions depicting swaddled babies.  Children were sometimes abandoned in a basin which was located at he front portico.  In 1660, the basin was removed and replaced by a wheel for secret refuge.    After the person leaving the child rang a bell the stone was rotated 180 degrees, taking the baby inside the orphanage.  Today the building is mainly a museum.

Our group hung around this Piazza Santissima Annunziata watching the people and relaxing.

I spent some time  photographing  people riding by the Piazza, learning  some  panning skills.  Brenda Tharpe, the other photographer tour leader was giving me lots of helpful advice.  I still have lots of room for improvement but this one and the photo below were two  of my better attempts.  It was actually a lot of fun trying to get the shot I wanted.  

After leaving the Piazza we walked on Via dei Servi(left photo).  The  street is lined with many Renaissance palaces.   Above is a pretty garden I saw on the walk.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Flore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) in the main church of Florence.  The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style.   The cathedral complex includes 3 buildings: the Basilica, the Baptistry and the Campanile.  The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence.   I loved the ornate white, green and red marble facade of the cathedral.  

There were lots of interesting characters walking in the Piazza del Duomo .  By now you might recognize Chris!  I was actually trying to photograph the young man with the colourful  hair style without making it look too obvious.

This nun looked a little flustered looking after all of kids.  Everywhere we went in Florence (and other towns) there were cafes, snack bars, restaurants and lots of Gelato places.  No tourist  is ever going to go hungry in Italy.  I haven't mentioned this but the food was terrific and reasonably priced everywhere we went.  Brenda and Jed took us to their favourite restaurants whenever possible.  I did take some pictures with my Iphone- perhaps I will do another blog on the food.  Even though Toronto has some of the best Italian restaurants in the world, I don't believe that their food can compare to Italy's.  

By now it was getting later in the afternoon so after a few more photos in the plaza area we headed back to the hotel for a quick break and early dinner before heading out for some night shots.  The next blog will feature Florence at night.