New pedestrian only areas in Florence

Last week was the closing to street traffic of the areas around the Duomo that weren't already "pedonale" or pedestrian only streets. Below are a few photos taken while standing in the intersection of Via de'Cerretani and Via de'Martelli. It feels really odd to be able to walk in the middle of these streets knowing how much traffic passed by every day. This week they also took down most of the stanchions and chains that were in the area to control the flow of traffic and keep people from getting run over! I still think that some of this whole thing was just a pro-active PR attempt by the mayor to gain some easy goodwill before the tram construction starts - this is the exact route that the tracks are supposed to come down from the station on the way to Piazza San Marco.

(Please note this entry was written in 2009 - updates to the "pedonale" areas is coming soon!)