FERRAGAMO MUSEUM FLORENCE

If you love design and colour and appreciate hand worked craftsmanship, one place worth a visit is the lesser known Ferragamo museum in Florence. Situated in the basement of Palazzo Spini Feroni, Via Tornabuoni n. 2, the museum was opened to the public in 1995 by the Ferragamo family in an effort to illustrate Ferragamo's artistic qualities and the important role he played in the history of shoe design and international fashion. Besides photographs, patents, sketches, books, magazines and wooden lasts of various famous feet, the museum boasts a collection of drawings by Ferragamo from the end of the 1920's until 1960, the year of his death. It is a wonderful spectacle and is certainly worth a visit to see the genius of the man who created them.

BACK IN ITALY ON GOOD FRIDAY

I have just booked to go to Italy for work again on Friday, so will be there for Easter. I love any time in Italy, but Easter is particularly beautiful - the passion of the ceremonies, celebratory Sunday lunch and the change of the season as Spring bursts into life, are 3 easy reasons to spend time there (does one need any reasons?). I love to wander the streets, watching Italian families celebrate together while I soak in Italian life.

I will spend a few days in the superb Cortina D'Ampezzo area, where I have previously spent a great deal of time for work. The area has spectacular scenery with the imposing Dolomite mountain range surrounding the picturesque alpine village. The skiing is superb, though I won't be skiing at this time of year (even though several of the runs are still operating), but rather I will be sorting out a few work issues.

Spectacular Dolomite Mountains taken from Pocol (5kms from Cortina D'Ampezzo)

Then I will be working in Venice for a week, so a beautiful place to be again. I can happily wander the small calle (streets) for days, so together with my new camera, I will post about some of my discoveries.