Ponte Vecchio

As a new blogger I thought it would be good practice to post something each day, just to take the habit of blogging. I know that picture of the day is not a new idea, but it's a way to start for me. Ponte Vecchio will forever be imprinted in my memory bank. As a small child we crossed over a parallel bridge several times a week. I remember being in the front seat of our '72 VW bus looking out the window and seeing the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge). In the early part of 1980 each time we saw the bridge my mom would say "Now take a good look at it because soon you won't see this bridge all the time". We moved to the states June 8th, 1980. I saw the Ponte Vecchio again in the summer of '85 and the summer/fall of '87 when I moved back to Firenze hoping to live there. When I finally returned to Bella Italia in 2008 I couldn't wait to see the beautiful bridge (above is one of the many pictures I took at that time). I'm not going to post a long drawn out history lesson, but just to give an idea, the existance of this bridge was first recorded in 996. It is one of the oldest existing Medieval bridges. It proudly stands over the Arno river, I believe they must have a love hate relationship as they have been battling for centuries. I think the bridge was destroyed in it's entirety at least four times due to the Arno flooding. Currently, upscale jewelry shops line the sides of the PV along with souvenir shops and art galleries. I think it's a truly magical place and such a part of my childhood memories, I even imagine master of the Renaissance walking on this bridge buying their vegetables...somewhere in my memory bank I see Dante walking on the Ponte Vecchio, I'm not sure why? It's such a part of my memories that I have instructed my children to scatter one half of my ashes here... the other half I will talk about at a later time. Next time I'm in Firenze I must go see it at night, when it is illuminated by the light of the moon reflecting off the Arno.