Another day, another church

Florence is bursting with lovely churches, and I've visited quite a few of them.  Today, though, was my first trip to the rather imposing Great Synagogue of Florence, aka the Tempio Maggiore Israelitico di Firenze.

Click an image to see a larger version.

Though very different from its Christian counterparts in many ways, this church was nonetheless a grand and moving place of worship.

The small museum it houses tells the story of the place, with a particular emphasis on the horrors that WWII and the Nazi Germans brought it.

Without trying to dive into politics, I must say again that we as a race should never let this sort of nightmare occur again.

I wander a lot in Florence, walking everywhere and generally not worrying about getting too lost, because the key parts of the main city are easy to find.  Today, my wandering took me by this odd piece on the corner of a quiet road.

After some delicious Grom gelato--I've missed gelato only one day in Florence so far--I meandered by the main square in time to see a bubble-maker in a tux entertaining kids.

Ancient beauty is everywhere here, so seeing the beauty of bubbles in the wind and laughing children was a pleasant and different treat.