Dawn discoveries

My favourite time of day - the city still sleeps and medieval cobbled streets are wonderfully empty, but ancient walls, corridors and piazzas whisper secrets of those who went before, normal lives lived in the rich, creative, cultural melting pot of the Renaissance. Ponte Vecchio's historical shopfronts are closed but for the quiet stirrings of a cafe preparing for the rush and bustle of tourists hungry for a cool gelato to counter the heat of summer. In the early morning light the city feels my own and I explore it's secrets selfishly, a childlike curiosity and hunger for what was, a need to know, to sense how it might have been at it's height. Time bound before the crowds begin to build and I slip back into the relative quiet of the studio.