Teeny Tiny's Travel Tuesdays: More Florence

Although much of what is great about Florence lies on the south side of the Arno, Teeny Tiny made sure to cross the Ponte Vecchio so that he could enjoy the sights of the Oltrarno.

The Oltrarno offers more than amazing views of the more known part of the city, although the views are amazing.

A little more than a mile down the river past the Ponte Vecchio lies the Piazzale Michelangelo, a park set atop a hill that holds bronze copies of some of Michelangelo's most famous works. The park also stands halfway up the hill to San Miniato al Monte, home to a community of Olivetan monks who make tasty candies and honey.

Teeny Tiny wandered through the enormous cemetery that surrounds San Miniato. He learned a great deal about old Florentine families by reading the tombs, still carefully tended though hundreds of years old.

Another great thing about being in Florence in May is that it is rose season. The Piazzale Michelangelo is surrounded by two amazing gardens. One garden has all kinds of flowers and plants. The other is the rose garden, open only during May.

It too offers amazing views of the city.

The other main attractions on the other side of the river are the Boboli Gardens and the Pitti Palace. Teeny Tiny made reservations so that he could wander through the galleries and enjoy the great Renaissance and post-Renaissance art not in the Uffizi.

A few blocks past Santo Spirito, the main place of worship on the south side of the river, are a few other amazing churches. The old Carmelite church, Santa Maria del Carmine, is not often open for tourist gazing, but it also holds the Brancacci Chapel.

To get to the chapel, Teeny Tiny had to go through the cloister of the old monastery.

Most people visit the chapel for the stunningly restored frescoes of Massaccio and Fillipino Lippi. The church offers a film history of the frescoes, which might have been really enlightening. Teeny Tiny, who's already a bit of an art history buff and so familiar with their history, chose to pass on the film so that he could simply enjoy the chapel.