Photography by Tina Ortiz: Firenza Part 1 : much cooler than calling it "Florence"

We arrived in Firenza, sometime around 4pm, and by the time we got settled into the apartment, it was about 6pm. The goal for the day was to go out and just see what the layout was [so we could conquer the museums the next day]. The first night I had planned on shooting just with the wide angle lens. Here are the results below. Firenza looks exactly like every photo you have ever seen of it. Later, we discovered that it is still unchanged from paintings done around the 1700's and 1800's!

This is Ponte Vecchio - the view of it from the banks, is on every photographer's bucket list. To be there when the sun was going down was unbelievable. I was practically in tears. The crowds were gone for the day, and majority of the families were eating dinner, so I was able to get many unobstructed views.

After we took the night photos, my lens and camera stopped communicating and I was having problems for the rest of the night.

We took a dinner break, and went to the Cinguale Blanco - and had bistec florentine! Afterwards, we walked around the city at night. It was so surreal to see everyone out enjoying the summer night.

The next day, we got up early to conquer the Accademia (to see the David statue) and we went to Santa Maria Del la Croce to see the graves of famous Italians/Firenzens/etc.

These people in line go around the block for several hours. They are waiting in line to buy a ticket to get in to see David. We had bought a tour guide with jump-the-line privileges. Well worth it!

Firenza is the city that answers the question: "how many paintings of Madonna & Child can your brain see and process in one day!"

My reflection in 16th century glass.

Getting ready to go inside Palazzo Pitti & the Gallery Palatina. We split up during the self guided tour because I just wanted to concentrate my photography on the statues and paintings. One of the features of this museum is the way the rooms are set up inside. First of all, you ARE in the palace. So the rooms themselves are part of the visual. Then you have a beautiful statue centerpiece, while the walls are literally overflowing with paintings and sketches.

Once you are in a room, if you look out the window, you can see the views of Firenza that the royals used to get.

This is a modern installation piece (from 1997)- meant to show the passage of time through "art's eyes" . It's actually very funny when you see people/guests walking into the room unaware. :)

After [what seemed to be 2 million paintings] there were still little details that kept catching my eye. Sometimes the most beautiful parts of a painting were not the main focus. Above, it a huge painting of Pontias Pilate presenting Jesus to the crowd below. This painting is about 8-10 feet across. But what is so captivating is Pilate's wife, recalling her dream, and refusing to take part in the mockery.