On the _Ponte Vecchio_ on each side are jewellers' shops, who sell besides
jewellery, cameos and works in mosaic. The Quais on each side of the Arno
are very broad and spacious and form agreeable promenades in the winter
season. The buildings on the banks of the Arno are magnificent. The streets
of Florence have this peculiarity that they are all paved with large flag
stones, which makes them mightily pleasant for pedestrians, but dangerous
at times for horses who are apt to slip. Most of the houses in Florence
have walls of prodigious thickness; one would suppose each house was meant
to be a fortress in case of necessity.
FLORENCE, 29th August.
On the other side of the Arno, a little beyond the _Cabinet Physique_ and
Museum of Natural History stands the _Palazzo Pitti_, the residence of the
Grand Duke. It is a vast building and has a large and choice collection of
pictures; but its finest ornament in my opinion is the statue of Venus by
Canova, which to me at least appears to equal the Medicean Venus in beauty
and in grace. The magnificent and spacious garden belonging to the Palace
is called the garden of Boboli. These gardens form the grand promenade of
the Florentines on Sundays and holidays.
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