More Postcards from Florence ...

When I was scrolling through my photographs from our Florence trip last week, I noticed that there seemed to be rather a lot of animals.... 

Galloping horse on the lovely carousel in the Piazza della Republica

A tray of glittering butterfly brooches in a jewellery shop on the Ponte Vecchio

You've already met Il Porcellino, at the Mercato Nuevo. If you rub his nose, it is said you will return to Florence.

I loved this silver stag in another shop window. I dread to think how much he cost.

And then there were the lions..... everywhere we went.  As a Leo, I seem to be drawn to lions wherever I go, and there were plenty of them all over Florence.

These grand fellows sit on either side of a statue of the poet Dante. I love their haughty expressions.

This is no little wall plaque ... he's one of a pair, and he's huge!

Feeling like an extra from Bill and Ben ...

Anyone for football?

I would love a door knocker like this.

This lion was probably the oldest of them all. We found him in the Roman ruins in Fiesole.

Some of the lions of Florence.

But my favourite animal last week was not a lion at all, but a little badger.

She was sitting with a little group of medieval revellers enjoying a feast in a deli shop near our hotel.

This made me smile every day as I passed by.

Sometimes, I find it's the unusual little details that make a place intriguing. I love finding little surprises that aren't high on the 'must-see' list..... (apart from the bronze boar, of course .... he's in every guide book for Florence, and I had to hunt him down).