The marble was everywhere — not just on floors, ceilings, walls, columns, and statues — but also embedded in the sidewalks.  Marble is considered so very precious here (it’s heavy and thus expensive to import) and it seemed nearly commonplace in Italy.  White (Carrara?) marble as paving in the streets?  Amazing.  It’s $7 per square foot for tile online, plus shipping, no doubt.

And isn’t the simple pattern elegant?  So much in Italy that might be ordinary here is artistic/attractive/done with care.  Except bathroom design, perhaps.  But that’s another post…