This gem in the middle of a busy road is a treasure cove of notable graves from Elizabeth Browning,…read moreThe King of Prussia to the last descendants of Shakespeare. If you get to meet Julia the woman who brought this cemetery into rebirth then you will have an experience of a lifetime. Her story is truly incredible and she is a woman that has dedicated her life to education and helping others. She made us look at the Roma (gypsies) in a completely different light. We had no idea of the genocide of the Roma. Visit this place if youre into history, cemeteries, statues, art, a feeling of timelessness. the road that blankets around the cemetery buzzes with cars and Vespas and buses rushing through but there is a certain type of stillness and serenity inside the cemetery.

A lovely church located in the heart of Florence. Amazing works of art but the church lacks the…read moregrandeur of other locations. A very nice place to pray and reflect. Very interesting history of construction and reconstruction. Worth a visit.

Santa Maria Maggiore may just be the most forgettable church in Florence. Most tourists will just…read morewalk by this church. We visited because I was interested in the hidden secret (below). It is, after all, one of Florence's oldest churches (some say the oldest). The church has an unfinished exterior. We enjoyed the peace and quiet during our visit. There is a hidden secret on the outside of the church. It is about a "petrified woman" known as "Berta," whose head comes out in a disquieting way from the stones of the walls of the church. You really have to look for it on the Via Cerretani. The story goes that on September 16, 1327, Cecco d'Ascoli, a doctor, astrologer and teacher, was being led to execution after predicting that the future queen of Naples would be 'inclined to lust'--an accurate prophecy as it turned out: (Joanna I had four husbands, one of whom she killed, and she was suffocated to death in her own bed.) As Ascoli was being marched to the bonfire on which he would be burned, crowds poured out into the street to shout and jeer at the poor man. When he passed in front of the church, he begged the crowd for a little water for his parched throat. Berta, watching from a window in the bell tower, shouted cruelly, 'He's a wizard! If he drinks he shall not burn!' Ascoli, in response to the woman's meanness, cursed her, saying, 'And you shall never again lift up your head from that place!' To this day, her petrified head can be seen on the wall of the tower, waiting to be freed from the curse.

There are two WWII US cemeteries in Italy. This one contains burials from US military actions from…read moreafter the conquest of Rome to the Alps before the war in Europe ended in May 1945. Here are over 4,000 American dead buried along with another 1400 names of US military members whose bodies were never found. The cemetery is located on 70 acres of land about 8 miles south of Florence's city center. These cemeteries are maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission and they do an excellent job keeping these facilities all over the world in pristine condition. Everything here is immaculately cared for and beautiful. They have a small visitor center and a memorial building with a chapel and maps showing the invasion of Sicily and Italy and troops movements there. Also there is a tall pylon in front. I don't believe that this cemetery has many visitors every day due to it being outside Florence but it's easy to get to by car or by bus. Bus service is about a 20 minute ride each way and only costs about €1.5 each with bus service passing by about every 20 minutes on average. I enjoyed my visit and encourage others to find the time to come here and pay their respects.

We made a brief stop here while on a tour with EF Go Ahead tours. It was not technically part of…read moreour tour but we were good on time and made the stop. Very interesting seeing an American cemetery in another county. This cemetery is for the WWII fallen soldiers. The cemetery had lots of information, the people who took care of the cemetery were very knowledgable. There were over 4000 (or 5000?) remains there but less than 500 of the graves had a family member actually visit. The grounds were in pristine condition. There is an alter in the back by the walls with all the writings, prayers and names of the people that their bodies were never found. If you get a chance to go - its one of the best cemeteries I have ever visited.